The Independent on Sunday said Vladimir Potanin, an oil and mining magnate, was considering investing up to 120 million pounds ($203 million) on a new stadium for Arsenal in return for a share of the club.

Potanin, a former Russian deputy prime minister, is one of the small group of "oligarchs" who were awarded multi-billion dollar industrial empires in the privatisations of Russian industry in the 1990s.

Fellow oligarch Abramovich bought Chelsea three months ago, winning the club the nickname "Chelski" in the British press, and stocked them up with top players.

The Independent on Sunday said Potanin was an Arsenal fan and had flown to London to see the side play. The club are trying to raise 400 million pounds for a new stadium.

The newspaper quoted a "senior associate" of Potanin as saying the Russian "was keen" and had "talked very seriously" about his plan to buy into the team.