The 63-year-old currently owns 30 per cent of the club through Red & White Holdings and has made a move to wrestle a further 67 per cent away from majority shareholder Stan Kroenke.
It is understood a formal bid was made for Kroenke's shares but it is believed the American is expected to reject the offer.
Usmanov has been a shareholder at the Premier League club since 2007 and upped his stake from 14.6 per cent to 30 when he bought out Farhad Moshiri in 2016.
He has a fractious relationship with Kroenke and last month he claimed that the club's issues should not be placed solely at the door of manager Arsene Wenger.