Sat 09 Sep 2007Usmanov raises the stakes at ArsenalArsenal's start to the season has won them plaudits aplenty, but
not all the admiration is welcomed by the current board - notably
that of the Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who yesterday became
the club's second largest shareholder by raising his stake from 21
per cent to 24 per cent.That increases the likelihood of a return to the Arsenal board
for David Dein, who became the chairman of Usmanov's Red and White
Holdings last month after selling his 14.58 per cent share in the
club. Dein ended his 24-year directorship at Arsenal in April after
falling out with the other board members, who, unlike him, were
adamant the club neither needed nor wanted a foreign benefactor.
The chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, recently suggested he would never
work again with Dein.