Manchester City's new owner Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim considered buying into Arsenal, it has been revealed.

The Mail on Sunday says meetings took place with Arsenal stakeholder Alisher Usmanov earlier this year, with a view to buying his 24 per cent holding.

The Abu Dhabi United Group would have had to pay a premium on the shares in order to gain a foothold at Arsenal, but Usmanov was only willing to sell a proportion of his stake, meaning negotiations eventually foundered.

The deal for all Usmanov's shares could have reached £180m and would have made ADUG the biggest shareholders in Arsenal, owning marginally more then director Danny Fiszman.