Roman's Arsenal swoop

Roman Abramovich made a surprise visit to Arsenal's London Colney training ground yesterday, sparking rumours that Chelsea were about to make a bid for one of Arsene Wenger's top players.

Abramovich made enquiries about Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira in the summer before being told they weren't for sale at any price, but his appearance yesterday was less confrontational.

Standard Sport understands that Abramovich was in north London to examine Arsenal's state-of-the-art training facilities with a view to making improvements at his own club.

Chelsea's training ground at Harlington is well below Premiership standards and Abramovich wants to provide them with amenities in keeping with their status as an emerging force in European football. The club have spent £15million purchasing land to develop a training complex in Cobham, Surrey, but have yet to receive planning permission to build on the site.

The fact Arsenal allowed the new Chelsea owner to study their facilities demonstrates the good-natured rivalry between the clubs since the takeover.

Arsenal vice- chairman David Dein recently joked following Chelsea's summer spending spree that Abramovich had parked his tanks on Highbury's lawn and was firing £50 notes at them.