Roman Abramovich could have bought Arsenal instead of Chelsea over 16 years ago — but he was mistakenly warned off the Gunners by ignorant Swiss bankers.

And the billionaire Russian oligarch tried several times unsuccessfully to lure Gunners talisman Thierry Henry to Stamford Bridge when the Frenchman was in his pomp.

The stunning revelations have been made in book, The Club, penned by two Wall Street Journal writers. They spoke at length with executives from leading Premier League clubs.

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

One of its findings was that ‘Arsenal were categorically not for sale’.

Abramovich instead took over Chelsea for £140m and went on to win five Prem titles and a Champions League.