He also confirmed that Arsenal did use the controversial dietary supplement Creatine for a while (although no-one was forced to take it). But that has stopped. "We did use it for two or three months....", he says, "but when we found out that it could have side effects, then we banned it completely."

On the drug-testing issue, he said, "In England, you can't say the game is clean if you don't check more regularly. I think, deeply, that the football authorities have a responsibility to keep the game clean. At the moment, they are not doing that, either in England or Europe."

Of course, he'll have been asked about his attitude because of the current goings-on with Man Utd and Rio Ferdinand (they are reported to be ready to take the FA to court if he is banned as well as fined for his failure to take a drug test at the proper time). But his attitude to that situation is not at all clear from his comments. On the one hand it could be inferred that he thinks the FA need to make an example of Ferdinand. On the other other hand one could say that it is the FA's fault that the players don't take testing sufficiently seriously, and that it is their responsibility to create a more serious climate of regular testing, if they are to expect the players to respect it properly.

No doubt both interpretations (and more) will be evident in tomorrow's tabloids.