In 2003, Chelsea boss Abramovich, who is currently under sanctions, almost bought Arsenal, but a mistake by Swiss bank UBS made him reconsider his options.
According to a book written by two Wall Street Journal authors, Abu had been investigating the economic situation of Premier League clubs for many years, considering acquiring one of the teams.
He hired Swiss bank UBS to conduct the investigation, which told him "Arsenal is not on sale".
This statement is clearly false.
Arsenal's stake has changed hands several times since 2003, and current owner Kroenke didn't even have a stake until 2007.
Former shareholder Usmanov was not yet involved in Arsenal at the time, and both of them only got in touch with the gunman much later, so it was not very difficult for a willing buyer to buy Arsenal at that time.
The book also reveals that former Arsenal vice chairman David Dane thought the Gunners management would "seriously consider" Abu's offer, but they did not wait for the other's offer due to misinformation from UBS.
Abu instead bought Chelsea, while Klenke eventually bought Arsenal
It is not known whether this miss was a stroke of luck or misfortune for Arsenal.