No takeover for Usmanov says Arsenal director Edelman

( AFP ) - Major Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov does not want to take over the club, managing director of the Gunners Keith Edelman told BBC radio on Sunday.

With Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov recently increasing his stake in the club to 23 percent -- and should he hit 30 percent he would be obliged to offer a takeover bid -- rumours the Premiership club's board will eventually sell out have continued.

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood and Edelman met Farhad Moshiri - joint owner with the Russian billionaire of Red and White Holdings which owns the Arsenal shares - on Friday.

But coming less than a week after the Gunners announced hugely impressive financial results, with massive leaps in turnover and profit, Edelman remains adamant that Usmanov merely sees his shares in the north Londoners as a good piece of business.

"He said to us he believes we are a very good long-term investment," Edelman told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek.

"He did not want to take the club over and said he wants to regard it as an investment and he thought he was going to make a lot of money out of it.

"His advisors assured us that Mr Usmanov is an Arsenal fan, loves the club and it's a shareholding. Now we'll have to wait and see what happens over time."

He added: "As far as the board is concerned, we don't believe we are in any danger of being taken over, it's business as usual and we believe we'll be running this club for many years to come.

"I don't think he will control Arsenal Football Club, and I don't think he wants to."