Wenger promises success, but who will own Arsenal?

On Sunday Arsenal will look to make up for their brief hiccup in midweek - when they fell to a sucker punch equaliser from AZ Alkmaar in the dying seconds of the Champions League game - by putting a hatful of goals past the hitherto hapless West Ham at Upton Park.

Perhaps it was this prospect that led manager Arsene Wenger to promise the owners of the club that they can expect a trophy this season, and beyond that could see their club ruling the roost of English football for a decade. Off the pitch, however, the issue of Arsenal's future ownership is looking no clearer after yesterday's Annual General Meeting of shareholders.

Stan Kroenke, the American sports billionaire who has been steadily increasing his holding in Arsenal over recent months, attended the meeting in person, as you would imagine a man who owned almost 29 per cent of a company would. But he refused to clarify his intentions for the club, saying that he had received legal advice telling him he did not need to talk about why he had upped his stake in the Premier League club to £160m of stock.

Kroenke's holding is just below the 29.9 per cent mark that would mean he had to make a formal takeover bid for the club. He was recently referred to the Takeover Panel for investigation by rival Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov, who owns around a quarter of the club and who feels that Kroenke is acting in concert with Arsenal board member Danny Fiszman.

The American's refusal to voice his intentions means that he can keep his future options open, for had he denied that he was going to bid for the company it would have meant that he was barred by City rules from making a takeover attempt within the next six months: "The person making the statement may [not] within six months from the date of the statement announce an offer or possible offer for the offeree company."

Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, who turned his nose up at Kroenke two years ago saying he didn't want "his sort" investing in the club glossed over the whole takeover issue. "I don't think we are looking for a change of custodian," Hill-Wood said. "The club is in pretty good hands. With your support we would like to think we would continue that way." This seemed to contradict recent statements where he said he would "welcome" a Kroenke bid. ·