Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood says the board is determined to keep the club out of foreign hands.

The Gunners' chief insisted: "I'd prefer that Arsenal remained British owned for traditional reasons. I think we have a deeper understanding of Arsenal than someone coming in from Timbuktu who puts down a billion pounds to buy it.

"My family has been involved for 90 years and we have never thought of getting involved in another football club. In all of our lives it's been part of our lifeblood.

"If you're expecting some sort of sugar daddy to top up the coffers every time you overspend then I don't think that would be our way of doing things.

"A rich benefactor can easily get bored and decide to buy another yacht or go into horse racing.

"I don't think it's a help because it makes you very slack in the way you run the business and you end up deluding people.

"The fans understand that, I'm sure. If we looked for an outside benefactor then that would lead us to become a business that's unsustainable. We clearly can't compete with the money Manchester City have so there's no point trying.

"We've got to succeed some other way."