And, like his predecessor, he is a long-time supporter of the club."Getting close to Sir Alex will be my first task," he admitted yesterday. "I know him well but he wasn't dealing directly with me in the past." His relationship will be fine if he supports Ferguson in his continual quest to extract money from Manchester United's board.Whether for Ferguson's own salary, which until the past few years did not reflect his achievements at Old Trafford, or for player transfers, United had a reputation for parsimony under Martin Edwards. He admitted yesterday that his chief task would be to forge the kind of relationship Kenyon enjoyed with the United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.It should not be difficult. With their financial Merlin gone to arguably their greatest rivals, it would be too tempting to see David Gill, Peter Kenyon's replacement as Manchester United's chief executive, as some kind of amateur magician reliant on cheap tricks. Although his first day in a post he was "shocked" to receive did not pass smoothly, with United's share price sliding four per cent on news of Kenyon's departure to Chelsea, Gill is hardly lightweight and at 6ft 6in, he has not been an insignificant presence as the club's managing director. Wenger said he wanted a new goalkeeper and a new centre-back and he has got those." Arsenal are also confident that once work restarts on the site, Wenger, who has pledged much of his future on Ashburton Grove, will stay..

In a reference to Roman Abramovich's Chelsea, Hill-Wood said: "We are not going to spend £110m on new players in the transfer window but we are reasonably comfortable. But it is in the middle of London and we have already got some property profits from selling the land that is surplus."The club also denies the stadium has had an impact on Ars? Wenger's team-building. "We are in a good position to make a lot of this happen because of our position and our importance to the community," Edelman said "It is a big project, a very big project. Highbury only has a capacity of 38,500 - Old Trafford's is 67,000 - with 34,000 Arsenal fans on the waiting list for a season ticket. Nevertheless, developing the 30-acre Ashburton Grove site also includes upgrading an underground station, building two new bridges, relocating a waste recycling centre and more than 100 businesses while providing new housing.The total cost is estimated at between £400-500m but Arsenal insist it is manageable and that the club needs a bigger ground to compete with Manchester United in gate receipts. "We are going to go there for cup finals only," he said.The £300m Arsenal need to borrow for the new stadium looks less daunting after they managed to secure their £55m kit deal with Nike, coupled with £10m raised from a debenture scheme and £30m from Granada.

If it goes on longer than that, then we are into a problem period which means it might not come together."Arsenal would then either remain at Highbury while they tried to iron out the problems or sell the new site "and look at alternatives".The vice-chairman, David Dein, is said to support sharing the new Wembley but Edelman added: "We had a board meeting just a couple of weeks ago and this [Ashburton Grove] is the No 1 option." Hill-Wood also dismissed talk of Wembley. The move, two years behind schedule, is still planned for 2006 but has been racked with difficulties.As yet, the club has still not secured £250m in bank loans, though the managing director, Keith Edelman, said: "We have time on our side but we should be in position to have got [the funding] done by the end of the year. "I think the board would be happy but I think the fans would not be happy." He went on: "The local residents would also be up in arms." There would also be difficulties in gaining planning permission.His comments came as Arsenal Holdings plc, the club's parent company, revealed that £94.6m has so far been spent on Ashburton Grove - an ambitious 60,000-seat stadium just half-a-mile from Highbury - even though the project may have to be shelved. "But the likelihood of any of those things happening is remote," he admitted. The Arsenal directors had discussed sharing "some time ago", Hill-Wood added. Their evidence is that Tigana was not sacked after Fayed told him his contract would not be renewed.. Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, said yesterday that the club would be "happy" to share its planned stadium at Ashburton Grove with Tottenham Hotspur, but accepted that Gunners fans would oppose such a move.