Roman Abramovich considered buying Arsenal before taking over Chelsea in 2003, it has been revealed.

The billionaire has also repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to lure Gunners talisman Thierry Henry to Stamford Bridge while the Frenchman was in his splendor.

The revelations were made in The Club, written by two Wall Street Journal writers.

They spoke at length with the leaders of the main clubs in the Premier League.

The book claims that in 2003, Abramovich hired Swiss bank UBS to examine the economics of top-tier English football.

One of his conclusions was that “Arsenal was categorically not for sale”.

Abramovich instead took over Chelsea for £ 140million and won five Prem titles and a Champions League.

The book also states that former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein believed the club owners would have cashed if Abramovich had offered.

Another claim is that Abramovich has met with the president of Tottenham.

But “as his Mercedes drove along Tottenham High Road, he looked out and said in Russian: ‘It’s worse than Omsk’ – the grim Siberian outpost where he had a refinery.”

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