Stan Kroenke has placed himself on the brink of a takeover bid for Arsenal. The London Evening Standard says Kroenke has put himself on the brink of launching an Arsenal take-over after increasing his shareholding to 29.6 per cent.

The American tycoon is now only 0.3 per cent - which represents just 209 shares - short of the point at which he would be obliged to make a formal bid for the club.

Arsenal announced to the London Stock Exchange this morning that the American spent another £3.6million buying up 427 shares at £8,500 each.

It is possible Kroenke could sell his interest in the Nuggets, an NBA team, to help finance any takeover move and shut out Russian Alisher Usmanov, who holds a 25 per cent stake in Arsenal.