But don't worry, if it does happen, it's not happening now.

Lauren quit because it was interfering too much with his Arsenal career, but apparently has been persuaded of his importance to his country.

"I have spoken with the player and we have convinced him how important his work is to the team," says Schafer, "I will be able to count on him for the qualification games for the 2006 World Cup in Germany."

But he wasn't able to convince Lauren to go to Tunisia for the African Nations Cup, which starts tomorrow. "To come to this cup would have been very difficult for him, after the pledges he made to his club, and the last thing I wanted to do was force him and cause him problems at Arsenal."

The good news is that the World Cup qualfiers won't get in the way so much, but this could mean that we lose Lauren next spring just as we're losing Kanu now. And that could help persuade Arsenal that the future of the right-back position is Toure or Hoyte.