BERGKAMP PROJECT RETURN

Gunners legend leading consortium bidding to buy Premier League club... despite coronavirus crisis

ARSENAL legend Dennis Bergkamp is leading a consortium of football superstars aiming to buy a Premier League club.

The former Gunners ace has joined forces with Derby manager Phillip Cocu, ex-Liverpool favourite Dirk Kuyt, current Holland coach Ronald Koeman and former Celtic hero Henrik Larsson in a bid to break into the richest league in world football.

And, with England’s top-flight facing a devastating £1.3billion meltdown if the plan to restart the season after the lockdown fails, the belief is that a club will be up for grabs in the coming months.

Dutch super-agent Rob Jansen, an executive at global marketing giants Wasserman Media Group, is the business brain behind the project.

Wasserman is the second largest sports agency in the world, worth an estimated £3.2bn.

Jansen revealed: “We are in the waiting room, as we call it. In this crisis, the asking price of some clubs will be lowered.

“At the same time the internal struggles at these clubs will get bigger.”

The group failed with a bid to buy a club last year.

Jansen added: “Recently we were very close to a deal. I am not going to say now which club that was, but at the very last moment we were beaten by a foreign investor. “That was very disappointing.” Jansen, 64, has been a powerful presence in the game for more than 25 years. He represented all of his business partners when they were at the height of their fame.

All six men have experience of working inside the English game – and are ready to spend their own money to make their dream happen. Bergkamp, 50, is regarded as one of the Premier League’s greatest players after a 11-year stint at Arsenal that saw him win the Premier League three times and lift the FA Cup on four occasions.

A statue outside the Emirates honours the Dutchman’s service to the Gunners.

But Bergkamp has not been involved in football since leaving the coaching set-up at Ajax in December 2017 after clashing with executives and former team-mates Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars.

He is currently helping out at his daughter’s hockey club.

But he is itching for an opportunity to return to the game he graced with such distinction.

Berkamp would want a hands-on role at any potential club.

He is eyeing a position that would allow him to oversee the entire set-up, with emphasis on developing a pathway for young players from the academy to the senior team.

Bergkamp’s business partners also

The asking price of clubs will be lowered as struggles get bigger

come from fine footballing stock. Kuyt, 39, was a firm favourite during six years at Anfield and has been working in the youth system at Feyenoord since retiring.

And 48-year-old Larsson is boss of Helsingborgs after a playing career that included spells at Manchester United, Celtic and Barcelona.

Former Southampton and Everton boss Koeman also played for Barca.

As did Cocu, who became Derby manager last summer and guided PSV Eindhoven to their first Dutch title in seven years back in 2015.

The move could not be better timed, as Newcastle are on the verge of a £300m takeover backed by the government of Saudi Arabia.

But clubs face losing up to £100m if the proposed Project Restart has to be halted.

Those losses could open the door for new investors – like the ones being advised by Jansen.

Dennis Bergkamp is looking to follow up his successes with Arsenal (right) and Holland (below)