Peter Hill-Wood has admitted to sharing fans’ fears about continued takeover speculation but the Arsenal chairman has reassured supporters that the club's long-term future remains in safe hands.

Arsenal’s parent company announced impressive figures for the past financial year today, with overall turnover up to more than £200 million and operating profit up to £51.2million.

However, those results have only increased speculation about a possible takeover. Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek billionaire, recently increased his stake in the club to about 21 per cent through his company, Red and White Holdings Limited, while Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire, owns more than 12 per cent of the club’s shares.

But Hill-Wood attempted to calm fears that a takeover is imminent. Asked if he could understand the concerns of the fans, he said: “I share them. All I can say is we have stressed more times than I can remember [that] we believe we are here as guardians of this great football club.

“The board are totally united in resisting any attempt to wrest it from us. Not only does the club belong to shareholders, it belongs to the fans.

“They are the people who produce half the income we generate, they sit around here and we have to entertain them. Luckily we have been able to do that.

“If you listen to the major shareholders on the board and believe what they tell you, they have absolutely no intention of selling one single share.

“I think the way Arsenal Football Club is structured is very satisfactory. I think changing it to a single owner would not be to the benefit of Arsenal fans and the club in general. I hope they are wasting their time.”

Hill-Wood and the rest of the Arsenal board pledged to retain their shareholding for at least one year after the controversial departure last April of David Dein, the club’s former vice-chairman, in the wake of a split about the extent of Kroenke’s involvement.

According to Keith Edelman, the managing director, the club will maintain a “continued dialogue” with Kroenke, but they have yet to hold a meeting with Alisher Usmanov. The club have a marketing partnership with the Kroenke Sports Entertainment group and their Major League Soccer club, Colorado Rapids.

“We have a very good relationship with Stan and a continued dialogue with him, and will have to see how events unfold,” Edelman said. “We are joint-venture partners with them and expect to see them again in the near future. We have met Stan Kroenke. The chairman and I met him once in New York, I had met him previously in Denver, and we have a continued dialogue about Colorado Rapids, and we expect to see Stan regularly.

“As far as Usmanov is concerned, we have always stated our belief as a responsible corporate body, we meet anybody who requests a meeting, and that is still our policy.”

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