Alisher Usmanov has been taken aback by the sudden boardroom reshuffle at Arsenal.

The Independent says advisers working for Alisher Usmanov were considering their next move yesterday after they admitted the Russian oligarch was "completely shocked" by the sudden departure of two of Arsenal's directors, including Nina Bracewell-Smith, who owns 15.9 per cent of the club.

Usmanov, who has steadily acquired shares in Arsenal and has a stake of just under 24 per cent, has been careful not to antagonise the other shareholders, and has now even been granted space within the club's directors' box, but may be tempted to buy out Bracewell-Smith, who is understood to have had a major falling-out with the directors.

If Usmanov did make a bid, which would cost around £50m at current market value, it would force him to submit an offer for the whole club as, under stock market rules, his holding would exceed the 29.9 per cent threshold for investment stakes.