After a number of months of inactivity, Alisher Usmanov, the second-largest shareholder in Arsenal, has acquired another 688 shares in the Premier League soccer club.

The investment is Usmanov's first in the club since spending US$5.4 million to secure an extra one percent of shares of the club in February. In the intervening ten months, American billionaire Stan Kroenke has leapfrogged Usmanov's shareholding, and now owns more than 29.9 per cent of Arsenal. Usmanov now owns 26.07 per cent of the club.

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If either man's stake reaches 30 per cent, he will be legally obliged to make an offer to buy the entire club at the latest share price paid. While sources close to the club clami that is not on Kroenke's agenda, it is thought to be very much part of Usmanov's plans.