Wiltord, who scored the late French equaliser in the Euro2000 final on Sunday and has been linked to Arsenal before, has had a decent couple of seasons. He scored 22 goals in 30 games the season before last (when Bordeaux won the French championship), and followed that with 13.

What makes us hesitant over this rumour is the fact that all the noise (and so much of it) is coming from the player's agent.

Bordeaux have said that Wiltord won't be allowed to leave till the end of the coming season (because that would delay things long enough that Bordeaux wouldn't have to pass some of the fee to his last club, Deportivo La Coruna). But Wiltord apparently threatened them with court action and the club has relented.

So it makes a lot of sense that his agent would be trying to whip up interest. The figure being touted is £15million which seems extremely steep. But that's what people said about Henry's £10million and maybe Wiltord is one-and-a-half times as good as Thierry! ;>

Back in May, Arsène Wenger admitted that he had been interested in Wiltord, but said that Bordeaux had stated that the player was not for sale (see here). This cuts both ways. It suggests that Arsenal might well be interested if Bordeaux are prepeared to sell. But on the other hand, if the tale sof legal threats etc are true, Wenger has a well-known dislike for this kind of player-power.

The latest really dodgy rumour, by the way, is that it's Ljungberg and not Overmars who is bound for Italy. And offers for Henry and Vieira are flying in from all over the place.

It looks (from the Arsenal shop window) like Robert Pires will be wearing the number 7 shirt. Edu and Lauren's numbers aren't decided yet.