Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire who holds the largest shareholding in English soccer club Arsenal, has added another 427 shares in the club to take his stake to 29.6 per cent.

The shares, which have cost Kroenke UK£3.6 million, take him within touching distance of the 29.9 per cent threshold that would legally oblige him to make an offer for the remaining shares in the club.

Key figures at Arsenal have repeatedly denied Kroenke will seek to complete that takeover, but the club's chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, told the Daily Star newspaper last month: "It does look like he is edging towards a takeover, which I would welcome. I have not asked him if that is what he plans to do, but I am very relaxed about it."

"If it was to happen, I don't think you can expect any big changes because he seems to like things very much the way they are."

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However, at Arsenal's AGM the following week, Hill-Wood said: "I don't think we are looking for a change in custodian. I think you will find the club is in pretty good hands. I believe he [Stan] is happy to be a long-term shareholder in our club. Really it's not for me to say what his intentions are."