I heard on Monday evening that hedge fund Lansdowne Holdings had sold their shares in Arsenal for a figure reputedly consisting of five figures per share. Additionally, Birol Nadir has sold up. In both cases the buyers were the David Dein fronted Red & White Holdings and if the figures that were suggested to me were true, then there is some pretty aggressive purchasing going on. They now hold just under 21% of the shares in the club, making them the second largest shareholder after Danny Fiszman.

Red & White Holdings’ owners certainly regard Arsenal as an undervalued club, and the irony of their paying a five figure sum – if indeed that is the case – for Lansdowne’s shares cannot be lost on David Dein. History may soon suggest he sold out on the cheap (at £8250 per share) although by doing so, he may feel adequately compensated if he is at some future point installed as chairman of Arsenal.

Ken Friar once said the Arsenal board met only about four times a year, less if there’s a crisis. Might I suggest that in terms of the future of the club, they might not be seeing each other for a couple of years if that gag were true. The premise of the humour is that Arsenal FC are a steady ship, and little rocks it. Not so anymore.

They say everything has a price, and the key player here is Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith. Danny Fiszman has no need of the money any sale of his shareholding would bring. Were it not for Lady Nina’s decision to stay loyal to the existing board (which includes family members – albeit by marriage rather than blood) when David Dein attempted to deliver her to Stan Kroenke, we might not even be concerned about Red & White Holdings now.

As it is, with such an aggressive purchasing strategy, it seems only a matter of time before Lady Nina is tempted. How strange that the future of Arsenal Football Club lies in the lap of a woman who, frankly, would probably be hard pushed to even name any Arsenal player from the pre-Wenger era.

Of course, in the short term she may decide to honour the lockdown agreement made by the board in April, although no-one is sure if that is even legally binding. I suspect it will come down to whether or not she sees the funds which purchased the shares as a financial or an emotional investment. It could depend on the powers of persuasion of the other directors that emphasise the ‘custodianship’ issue, meaning they would guard against delivering the club into the hands of someone who might not have the best interests of Arsenal at heart. An undesirable purchaser could see the club as either a money-making machine or have the intention of purchasing it by securing a loan on the club’s future earnings in the way that the Glazers have done at Manchester United.

Arsenal are soon to announce some very impressive financial results, but there is already one hell of a cloud hanging over that announcement. It’s like throwing a bucket of blood to circling sharks.

The reason that (despite my frequent despair at how out of touch the board can be with the supporters of the club) I would prefer the status quo is quite simply that the existing board do not extract money from Arsenal with the exception of salary payments to a couple of the directors. One hopes that they have built Arsenal up to be a mega club out of love for the Gunners rather than financial gain. Would Red & White Holdings be so desperate to purchase shares if this was just about love? Or are their plans to extract profit and if so, at what ultimate cost to the team and the Arsenal way of doing things?

The use of David Dein as a frontman for the organization is presumably an idea that suited both parties. Dein stays involved and can see an avenue back, whilst the company’s owners have a man at the helm who they believe can curry favour with the supporters and the current manager. Unfortunately, the stories that caused a flurry of legal threats from Alisher Usmanov’s legal representatives are now common knowledge and Dein’s stock has sunk with supporters as a result.

Arsenal fans have often derided Chelsea for the fact that their recent trophies do not have the same merit as those of clubs that run themselves on more traditional business lines. At this stage, we simply don’t know whether or not Alisher Usmanov has the kind of fortune that would allow him to spend in the way that Abramovich has. The idea that he is interested in Arsenal for financial gain rather than passion for the club suggests it might still be run along business lines should he gain control. So there may be no need for Arsenal supporters to feel like hypocrites.

However, should Usmanov gain control and Arsene Wenger calls it a day as he must eventually, could there be a situation whereby the owner is calling the shots in the way that is commonplace in Spain and Italy, choosing which players to buy and influencing the manager’s selections? And this is to say nothing of the concerns regarding Usmanov’s background. Could supporters warm to such a man?

Of course, there is another key player in all this. Stan Kroenke. ‘We don't need his money and we don't want his sort,’ Peter Hill-Wood famously said not that long ago. Er.. Stan, in the unlikely event you are reading this, don’t take any notice of that old fool! I do not know what your motives are, but at least you come from a country where there is some concept of accountability. The board should invite Kroenke to get more heavily involved now so there is a power block to prevent a takeover. The American has had the good sense to drop any hint of an association with David Dein, so there is a better chance that a healthy alliance can be formed.

Also, the with the board family and friends owning 50%, Red & White Holdings 21% and Kroenke 12% there is 17% out there that is key. The army of 1500 small shareholders could still have a key role to play, on the basis that their own investment in the club is based on support rather than financial gain.

These are interesting times to be an Arsenal fan, but also worrying times. Do you care who owns your club? You should…

It’s going to be one hell of an Annual Genreal Meeting this year and no mistake.

To finish a plug for the Arsenal Supporters Trust, the organization formed to represent both supporters and small shareholders to the Arsenal board. By becoming a member of the Trust (membership is open to all Arsenal fans and not just shareholders), you become a de facto shareholder in the club through the shares the Trust holds in its own name (including one granted the Trust by the club), as well as being able to help form Trust policy on the ownership issues.