THE Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov has written to the board of Arsenal football club, saying he is prepared to underwrite a £100m rights issue.

Usmanov, who is the second-biggest investor in the Premier League club and is being advised by Lazard investment bank, has made it clear he wants to work with the board. His intention is to help address Arsenal’s debts and provide extra firepower during the summer transfer window.

The Russian billionaire banked a fortune from buying and selling shares in Corus, the steel group, and has since built a 25% stake in Arsenal worth more than £120m. The letter is expected to be discussed at the club’s board meeting this week.

Usmanov is known to want a greater say over events at Arsenal. Despite his large shareholding, his investment vehicle – Red& White Holdings – is not represented on the board. The club is working with Rothschild, its financial adviser, on examining the rights-issue plan.

Ivan Gazidis, Arsenal’s chief executive, would say only: “We are open-minded about considering a capital-raising exercise, but we have to look at that responsibly, with a view to its long-term consequences.”

The board wants to be clear what the money raised would be used for. It is reluctant, for example, to raise large sums to buy players and wants to be sure that any signings are an improvement on existing personnel.

Red & White believes that the club’s £350m debts have made the club uncompetitive, although this is denied by the board, who have been keen to pursue what they describe as “a sustainable business model”. They will not allow the club to borrow money it might struggle to repay, or become reliant on a “sugar daddy”.

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, an independent body that safeguards the interests of the club’s small shareholders and that speaks for about 3% of the shares, has mixed feelings about a rights issue. Like the board, it does not want to see money “frittered away” in the transfer market, but says: “A capital injection that was ownership-neutral and enabled the current debt to be paid down would be of great benefit.”

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