Will Usmanov make a play for Arsenal?

Is Arsenal about to fall into the hands of Russian steel magnate and fencing fanatic Alisher Usmanov (pictured) following the resignation from the board of the club's third largest shareholder, Lady Bracewell-Smith? If Usmanov - a ruthless business operative who is one of the richest men in Russia, and a friend of President Putin - were to buy her 15.9 per cent stake, he could end up with more than 30 per cent of the shares. This would force a formal takeover bid.

Nina Bracewell-Smith is said to have flounced out after a boardroom row last Thursday. Although the family of her husband Sir Charles Bracewell-Smith has a 70-year connection to the club, both she and fellow director Richard Carr, another family member, who owns 4.4 per cent of the shares, resigned.

Their departure ends the so-called 'lockdown' agreement under which Arsenal's main shareholders promised not to sell to outsiders - an accord designed to keep the Gunners as the only one of the top four football clubs in British ownership.

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood commented: "Lady Nina is no longer representing the club and therefore is released from the lockdown. I don't know for certain what she wants to do with her shares."

The Bracewell-Smith family, who used to own the Ritz - now in the hands of the Barclay brothers - have been connected to Arsenal since Sir Charles's grandfather was chairman of the club, between 1948 and 1962. Usmanov is a relative newcomer to the soccer fraternity, having bought his shares last year. His big interest is fencing: he used to compete with the saber in his native Uzbekistan and was thrilled to be elected president of the International Fencing Federation at its annual conference in Paris last weekend.

A City analyst told the London Evening Standard today: "With 20 per cent of the shares now potentially up for grabs an almighty tussle is on the cards and Arsenal could be sold."