Stan Kroenke inches closer to a takeover at Arsenal

American billionaire Stan Kroenke has inched further towards a takeover at Arsenal after it was revealed he had purchased another 25 shares in the London club.

The latest deal leaves him just 17 shares away from having to launch a formal takevover bid. Kroenke's stake in the Gunners stands at 29.9 per cent - if he reaches 30 per cent he has to make an offer to buy all remaining shares.

Kroenke has slowly but surely raised his stake in the club over recent months. In November he brought 200 shares for £1.7m from the club's chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, and another 427 shares, worth £3.6m, from the estate of British industrialist Ernest Harrison.

The Denver-based tycoon already owns Denver Nuggets basketball team, Colorado Rapids MLS football team and half of the NFL side the St Louis Rams. It now seems certain that he wants to add Arsenal to that roster.

However, there is another player in the boardroom drama at the Emirates; Usbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov. He is Arsenal's second biggest shareholder, and owns 26 per cent of the club. He too recently brought more shares through his Red & White Holdings company.

Neither man has been particularly popular in North London. Chairman Hill Wood once said of Kroenke that he did not want "his sort" at the club. But by selling shares to the American it appears that he regards him as the lesser of two evils.

More evidence that the Arsenal board prefer Kroenke to Usmanov came earlier this month when it was revealed that the directors had hired a private investigator to find out more about the Uzbek.

In September, the Gunners' announced a record profit after tax of £35.2m on turnover of £313.3m in the year to May. ·