So apparently in the New York meeting that took place between Stan Kroenke, Peter Hill-Wood and Keith Edelman, ‘Silent Stan’ offered to underwrite a multimillion-pound transfer budget for Arsenal.

He was politely told by the chairman and the MD that, effectively, his money wasn’t needed.

A big announcement by the club has been rumoured for this week. Optimists are hoping that the news will be that the manager has decided to extend his contract at Arsenal and that a couple of major signings are announced at the same time. We live in hope.

Certainly, for the club to turn down the offer of additional finance to compete with the other big players at home and abroad, there can only be two assumptions. 1. The money had strings attached – possibly to do with David Dein returning to an active role at Arsenal. Or 2. The board are not bluffing and there is in fact plenty of available finance for the manager to strengthen the squad.

Kroenke may have suggested ploughing fresh funds into the club to ensure Arsene Wenger could be persuaded to renew his deal, fearing for the value of his investment up to this point should the manager depart in 2008. The Guardian quoted a source close to the American as saying that "the anxiety about Stan Kroenke and his intentions has been well documented, but he'd like to support Arsenal."

Although the meeting has been described as amicable, Kroenke turned down the suggestion that he join the board’s major shareholders in signing up to their "lock-down agreement", thus requiring a commitment from the American not to increase his investment in the club for 12 months.

Those who know Kroenke well believe that he would not – as some of the existing board fear – create a Manchester United/Glazer situation at Arsenal whereby the club was put into further debt to help fund its acquisition. "Stan doesn't use gearing in his American sports investments," were the words used.

The Arsenal Supporters' Trust, which is opposed to a heavily debt-led buyout, welcomed Kroenke's reassurances over borrowings. However, concerned that the club are in need of fresh financial input to ensure they can compete on the field, The Trust have urged the board to consider using a rights issue, whereby new shares are sold to raise capital for a company, which could be a vehicle for Kroenke's investment.

"The AST has previously raised the proposal for a limited rights issue with the Arsenal board," said a Trust spokesman. "This would see extra money going into the club, rather than to shareholders, as currently happens when new investors buy a stake in Arsenal. The huge increase in the value of the club's shares in recent years would mean that no shareholder need suffer any financial loss from this approach."

So the question now is this. If Arsenal are financially sound enough to reject Kronke’s offer and dismiss the option of a new rights issue, why isn’t the club’s PR calming the fans, who, having seen the sale of its biggest star, now fear that the 2008-09 season will kick off without Arsene Wenger as manager or Cesc Fabregas on the field? The noises emanating from the players are far from re-assuring and the lack of perceived stability at Arsenal could affect on-field matters, especially if the manager plays his usual waiting game on a new deal. Such uncertainty traditionally results in a poor campaign as Manchester United fans can testify.

The fear is that the talk of stability and financial solidity has an element of the emperor’s new clothes about it. If the club repeat the mantra often enough, the hope is that the people will believe it, but the whispers amongst those watching are getting louder. And behind it all, there lurks the horrible possibility that bad business decisions may be made due to personality differences, where egos end up the undoing of the club. The determination to ensure David Dein does not return to any position of influence may be overshadowing dealings with Stan Kroenke, such is the strength of feeling on the board against the former vice-chairman.

The board have to show their muscle, capability and confidence now. Does anyone think a major national corporation would sit idly by and allow all the negative speculation about key employees to continue? It’s a wonder the share price hasn’t fallen more. The club need to confirm the manager is going to be around beyond next season and ensure that the squad that begins the new campaign is more able to compete than that of 2006-07. Or do they want us to believe that finishing over 20 points off the leaders in the last two Premiership campaigns was part of their business plan? Most of all, fears and panic must be allayed, as all the murmurings can lead to a lack of confidence amongst the players with attendant results in matches. A slippery slope awaits Arsenal unless something is done over the next month to send the right kind of message out. And that message must include actions rather than the usual ‘everything’s in the garden’s rosy’ words.