But the player has said that Arsenal also made a last ditch attempt to sign him. The clincher for Boro (according to the player) was that they wanted him for a midfield role whereas Arsenal saw him as a replacment for Lee Dixon.

And if you believe that...

The truth is more likely to be that, given our current midfield, Karembeu's only chance of getting a regular first team place would be to displace Dixon (although it's even more likely that Arsenal never made any bid at all). Anyway, while Boro have confirmed their interest, the move hasn't gone through yet.

Latest from TeamTalk on the Overmars-to-Lazio rumour is that Arsenal would be prepared to let him go there if Veron was to come the other way. They do at least admit that it's very unlikely. Teamtalk reckon that "Gunners fans will be concerned that the club have not denied the essence of the story". But in truth, Gunners fans know that Arsenal never bother to deny these things. If they took the time to deny all the Arsenal-related transfer rumours they'd have no time to set up any real deals.