Stan Kroenke has moved closer to launching a formal takeover of Arsenal by acquiring another 200 shares in the club's parent holding company.

The Denver-based sports magnate now controls 29.9% of the company, just short of the 29.99% threshold beyond which he would be forced to make an offer for the remaining shares.

One hundred of the shares purchased by Kroenke were bought from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood.

When the matter of Kroenke's intentions for the Barclays Premier League club were raised during the recent Annual General Meeting at Emirates Stadium, the American - nicknamed 'Silent Stan' - chose not to take the opportunity to address the gathered shareholders, with Hill-Wood intervening.

Any public statements against future bid intentions must be unambiguous, otherwise the individual or group would, under the Takeover Panel's rule 2.8, be prevented from making a formal move for six months.

While Hill-Wood insisted major changes behind the scenes were not on the agenda, the Arsenal chairman has also suggested he was "very relaxed" about a proposed takeover by the American.

Manager Arsene Wenger also maintained: "Without any doubt he is interested in football and Arsenal.

"It can have both a positive and a negative influence, that is the same with every owner.

"As to what his ambitions and goals are, I do not know. He can answer that question better than me."

Wenger added: "He is at 29.9 per cent, so he is not yet in a position where is has to make a bid, so the situation at the club does not change."

The Arsenal boss insists he remains focussed on the job in hand with the team, rather than what may be going on 'above' in the Emirates Stadium boardroom.

"I care and worry about my plans," said Wenger, whose young side last night beat AZ Alkmaar 4-1 to all but secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

"I see it like floors - they are above my head, and I look downwards to the team.

"I take care of what is under my responsibility - that means the team, the way we play, the results and our next game.

"All the rest is a little bit above my head."

Wenger was tempted to invest his own money in Arsenal stock, but decided against it.

"I thought about it, but I felt that always I should try to do the job with a good work ethic and not to be accused that any decision was in my personal interest," he said.

"It was always healthy to not be involved in it at all."