Arsenal takeover: Alisher Usmanov submits £1bn bid to buy out majority shareholder Stan Kroenke

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has made a £1bn ($1.3bn) bid to Stan Kroenke to take over majority ownership at Arsenal. The oligarch owns 30% share at Arsenal while Kroenke has an overwhelming majority with 67%.

However, the Guardian reports that the bid is set to be rejected by Kroenke as he has repeatedly maintained that he is in for the long haul and is willing to hold on to the Gunners legacy for years to come. The American has built up his majority stake from 2007 and despite the fact that accepting the bid will land him a massive profit, is not contemplating any change in ownership.

Usmanov is unhappy with the direction in which the club is heading and has already clashed with Kroenke. The north London club are in dire straits at the moment, with the Gunners set to miss out on Champions League football for the first time under Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal are currently fifth in the table and will lose out in the race for a Champions league spot if Liverpool win their game against Middlesbrough on the final day or Manchester City avoid defeat against Watford.

The Emirates club host Everton in the last league match of the season and anything short of a win will vanquish any chance they have of ending the season on a high. The Gunners also have the FA Cup final to look forward to next weekend against Chelsea as they look to secure their third Cup in the last four years.

Meanwhile, Arsenal legend Ian Wright has backed Usmanov's bid to take over the Gunners and has asked the supporters to make their voice felt in order to bring change in north London.

"He has put in the bid and it is great news," Wright told BBC Radio 5 live. "Something has to change, whether it is the manager Arsene Wenger or whether it is the board upstairs."

"We are already missing out on the managers we are supposedly interested in and we are going to start missing out on the kind of players that are going to be available and want to play in the Premier League.

"Top players may want to leave. Too much is up in the air. Something has got to happen for Arsenal to go to that next level. This bid will galvanise the fans."