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Usmanov turns fire on Arsenal board

The open letter from Uzbek-born billionaire Usmanov, who has a stake of just under 30 percent, makes public his concerns over the running of the Premier League club, majority owned by American Stan Kroenke.

"It is down to our manager, and not the shareholders, to have to deal with the club's tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements," he said.

"Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player at the club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies," added Usmanov, who pointed out that his Red & White Securities group had invested around 200 million pounds in the club.

Arsenal's policy is to be self-funding and the club believe they are well placed to benefit from new Financial Fair Play rules designed to ensure leading European clubs clean up their finances.