Ryan Reynolds net worth v Dennis Bergkamp as Arsenal icon eyes EFL investment
Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp remains interested in joining NFL legend Tom Brady and Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as an investor in an EFL club.
In 2019, the magical former Netherlands international was involved in a bid to seize control of Wycombe Wanderers. Bergkamp was joined by a number of his former teammates in the bid, but ultimately no deal was struck.
Undeterred, Bergkamp is still keen to keep an eye on the market to see what opportunities will arise. The 54-year-old could become the latest big name owner to enter the English club football pyramid.
Back in November 2020, Deadpool star Reynolds teamed with McElhenney - famed for creating and starring in ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ - to purchase Wrexham for £2.25m. The duo have become symbols of Welsh football around the world thanks to the exposure their platforms have bought to the club and area, largely though the popular Disney+ documentary titled ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
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After 15 years outside the football league, the Red Dragons secured the National League title to clinch promotion to League 2. Their success led Brady to turn to Birmingham City ahead of the 2023/24 season, and the seven-time Super Bowl champion has visited St. Andrews several times already.
Any prospective owner needs funds to invest and bring success to the club. Wrexham owner Reynolds, who sits on the board of the Match Group, sold his ownership stake in Aviation Gin to Diageo for £503 million to ensure his current net worth is estimated to be £288m.
The Canadian actor’s net worth is considerably larger than Bergkamp at £40 million - but the Arsenal icon is determined to get on the ownership ladder as he targets turning a club’s fortunes around, like Wrexham. Speaking to De Telegraaf, Bergkamp said: “Wycombe Wanderers was a nice project - and we were very far along with it. It only fell through at the end.
“Together with Phillip Cocu, Ronald Koeman, Dirk Kuyt, Henrik Larsson and (agent) Rob Jansen we were going to buy the shares. It is still a dream of mine to develop players, run an academy, and use all our knowledge and experience to get promoted. Not with a foreign billionaire who puts in a lot of money just to go up quickly.
“If you have a group of former top footballers together then you just start lower. I am convinced that with a club in League One, with real football knowledge, you can get promoted to the Championship within five years, 10 years at most. We are not talking about the Premier League. That is a very difficult league to enter. I did go into Arsenal with some other Arsenal legends, together with Daniel Ek, but you can hardly move the owner of such a big club to sell in this day and age with the amounts that apply. The sale of Manchester United is also still not complete.”
US actor and Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds has helped transform the hopes of the Welsh town (AFP via Getty Images)Bergkamp appears ready to return to football after leaving his coaching role at Ajax in 2017. He added: “I have never felt the need to make teams better. I have often had discussions about whether I can do that and, honestly, I don’t think I can.
“I am much more content working with the ball. I’ve never been much into it, systems, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, I don't feel it. What I do want is to explain in detail to the boy how he can function best. That is what I find almost beautiful. The bridging role at Ajax, from the youth in training to the first team, suited me best. That was also how I played, between the lines. I was not a midfielder, not a striker.
“What I want is to command respect and to know that people listen when you say a player is arriving from the youth and that they don't just move on to another older player. If I return to football - and I think I will - that is one of my main ambitions. I think I'm good at that.”
Bergkamp scored 120 goals through 423 appearances as Arsenal claimed three Premier League titles and four FA Cups across 11 years in North London. He spent six years as a coach with Ajax and appears ready to embark on a new challenge.
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