Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin said Arsenal had been in contact with Mykhaylo Mudryk for a month and a half before they approached his club.
The 22-year-old completed a move to Chelsea on Sunday, with the Blues able to complete a deal that could reach £89million (four billion UAH) from under the noses of Arsenal.
Palkin explained he had met officials from the Gunners "three times", but Chelsea were ultimately the only club that met the financial demands of the Ukrainian side.
Speaking to The Athletic, Palkin said: "Before Chelsea arrived, I did not know they were close, because I communicated with Arsenal in the same way as I had with Chelsea... I met Arsenal more times than Chelsea.
"Therefore, before this last meeting, Arsenal was close, or a little bit closer to this deal than Chelsea."
He spoke of Arsenal's lengthy attempts to convince the player, adding: "From my point of view, [this] is why everybody talked about Arsenal. It is because Arsenal contacted the player almost one and a half months before they contacted us.
"Can you imagine, for example, to have [Arsenal manager] Mikel Arteta, [Arsenal left-back and Ukraine international] Oleksandr Zinchenko and the sporting director [Edu] calling you, to have Arsenal calling you almost every day, every two days, every three days?
"If you talk about Chelsea, they called me at the end of December and asked if they can contact Mudryk because they are interested in him and want to talk with him. I said, 'No problem, you can contact him'.
"The first time they contacted him was around the end of December or the start of January. They contacted the player and the agent of the player and they met the financial conditions.
"Why did many people around it have the impression that Mudryk was going to Arsenal? It is because Arsenal contacted him [first] and then Mudryk started to watch some games of Arsenal.
"But negotiations are negotiations. When you didn't close everything, when you did not [close] the last dot, then you cannot finish the deal. It was just an outside visual impression that Mudryk [was] close to Arsenal."
Palkin also confirmed Arsenal had also been willing to offer an overall figure of £89m, but that their final bid only included £62m up front, with £27m in add-ons.
"When we met Chelsea, we stayed all together," he added. "For you to understand the context, it was for nine or 10 hours. They invited the player and explained to us the whole project.
"We realised that, yes, if you look right now, Chelsea have some kinds of problems but it is normal because they have a transition period from one owner to another. It is understandable.
"They would like to change a lot. So when they explain to you the whole story and you look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project.
"I believe they will build one of the best clubs in the world because I am telling you, they are very serious in all directions: sports science, the stadium side, the commercial side, on all things. For us, they looked very ambitious."
Tonali set for August return after receiving suspended two-month ban from FA
Sandro Tonali has been given a suspended two-month ban by the Football Association (FA) after admitting to breaching gambling rules.
The sanction means the Newcastle United midfielder will be eligible to return to action on August 27, 2024, when his 10-month suspension issued by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) expires.
FIFA ratified that ban, causing it to become applicable worldwide, after Tonali admitted to placing bets on matches as part of an investigation into unregulated betting platforms in Italy.
In March, the FA charged Tonali with breaching English football's gambling rules 50 times between August and October last year, leading to fears his spell out of the game could be extended.
However, on Thursday it was confirmed that the FA had suspended Tonali's punishment for the duration of the 2024-25 season, meaning he can return in August if he does not reoffend.
In a statement, Newcastle said: "Sandro Tonali has been given a suspended two-month ban from competitive football by an independent regulatory commission after self-declaring breaches of FA betting rules.
"He has also been fined £20,000 and warned by the FA as to his future conduct.
"Provided that he does not commit any further breach of the FA betting rules during the suspension period, Sandro will not serve any part of the two-month sanction.
"As acknowledged by the FA in the independent regulatory commission's written reasons, the level of assistance Sandro has provided by self-referring and fully cooperating with a subsequent investigation is extraordinary and unprecedented.
"Sandro is continuing to follow a therapeutic plan and educational programme with the club's full support and will continue to train with his team-mates."
Tonali's initial ban has limited him to just eight Premier League appearances since he joined Newcastle from Milan in a £55million deal, while he will also miss Italy's Euro 2024 campaign.
Will Still leaves Reims job with immediate effect
Will Still has left his role as Reims head coach with immediate effect, the Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday.
Still took over as Reims boss – initially on an interim basis – after Oscar Garcia was sacked in October 2022 and went unbeaten through his first 19 league games at the helm.
The 31-year-old was eventually handed the role on a permanent basis and led Reims to an 11th-placed finish in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, with his lack of a UEFA Pro Licence causing the club to be fined €25,000 per match until he began the course.
Reims are currently 11th in Ligue 1 again, though they are winless in their last five games and have lost each of their last three.
In a statement, the club said: "Following a meeting this morning between president Jean-Pierre Caillot, general manager Mathieu Lacour and head coach Will Still, it was mutually agreed that the two parties would not continue the sporting adventure together next season.
"In order to allow Reims to confidently look forward to the next year, it was also decided that Will Still and his deputy Nicolas Still would step down from their respective functions as of today."
Still was linked with the Sunderland job earlier this season and said in February that he would be open to joining an "ambitious" Championship club.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
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