Stan Kroenke needs to spend just £144,500 more on shares in Arsenal to break the 29.99 per cent limit that would legally oblige him to make an offer for the remaining shares in the Premier League soccer club.

Kroenke has secured 25 more shares in the Gunners, at a cost of £212,500 (US$340,000) taking his Arsenal stake even closer to the 30 per cent mark. On reaching that, Kroenke must make an offer for all the remaining shares in Arsenal at the level of the highest amount he has paid for shares in the last 12 months.

Representatives of Alisher Usmanov, the second largest shareholder in the club, have demanded in the British press that Kroenke announce his intentions. The American has consistently rejected the chance to do so, most notably at Arsenal's AGM last month. After a number of months of inactivity, Usmanov acquired another 688 shares in Arsenal in December at a cost of several million pounds.

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Don Garber, the Major League Soccer commissioner, admitted in November that he has discussed his compatriot's plans for the club. "Stan Kroenke is very, very bright and a capable sports man - with his NBA teams, NHL teams and Major League Soccer team - and I think he will be a good owner of Arsenal," Garber told The Associated Press.