Who will be next? All eyes in the markets are now on the next British football club to follow the lead of Manchester United - and, it seems, Arsenal and Aston Villa - and team up with a media empire. Arsenal Football Club's value on the Ofex market rose almost 38 per cent yesterday to £224 million sterling following the announcement that it was in discussions with the media group, Carlton Communications. Arsenal's 56,000 shares, which were worth £2,900 sterling earlier this week, surged to £4,000 sterling in value.

And last night, Aston Villa confirmed that it too is holding talks with a communications firm about a possible takeover.

Carlton is also reported to be the company in question, but while the club confirmed that discussions were taking place with a firm, it did not reveal the name of the company.

Villa financial director, Mr Mark Ansell, said: "We have had talks with a communications firm and there is a chance that a deal might be wrapped up in the same way as with Manchester United."

Stock market analysts believe that it is simply a matter of time before other clubs such as Liverpool, Newcastle United and Chelsea follow suit.

Confirmation that Carlton had begun talks with Arsenal came in a joint statement yesterday in which the two said their discussions were "too preliminary in nature to assess the probability of any outcome". The statement said that one possible result could be an offer being made for the north London club.

The Carlton bid is likely to be about £275 million sterling, which is far below the £624 million bid made by BSkyB for Manchester United. This reflects Arsenal's substantially lower financial profile and fan base.

Carlton's possible takeover of Arsenal could prove to be a sound financial and commercial move. Carlton, which is valued at just under £3 billion sterling, is Britain's largest ITV company and would be the first terrestrial broadcaster to follow BSkyB's decision to buy into football. In addition to its television franchise in London and the regions - where the majority of Arsenal fans are based - it owns Central Television in the Midlands and West Country Television in the southwest of England. But Carlton's co-ownership of the ON Digital venture, which could turn Arsenal fans into feepaying digital television subscribers, could prove to be the most lucrative aspect of the deal. The other partner in the ON Digital venture is the Granada Group which is being tipped as the next media company to make a bid for a British football club. Granada's power base in the north-west of England makes it the likeliest candidate for a possible takeover at Liverpool or even Newcastle United. Mr William Davies, a football analyst with the stockbroker Albert E Sharp, said that, after the Manchester United-BSkyB deal, football clubs were now realising it was "better to pick your partner and be one of the first in, rather than hang around".

However, the race by media companies to buy into Premiership football has not been universally welcomed by fans.