Dein said "He had been saying for a while that he was a bit unsettled for various reasons. When the time came, he was approached and it was his decision. We didn't force him out of the club. It was a decision he wanted to take and we didn't refuse."

Petit's claim that he "never" wanted to leave Highbury will already have raised a few eyebrows. While at Arsenal he often made heat-of-the-moment remarks about wanting to leave England (and apart from moving the club across the channel it's hard to see how this could involve staying at Arsenal!).

Maybe Manu didn't think that Arsenal would take him seriously when he said he was unsettled. Shades of "the boy who cried wolf" here? Or maybe he's trying to stir things up, to tempt Vieira into also "not saying he wants to leave" ;-)

Whatever, he's a Barca player now. And from hints dropped by Tony Adams we reckon it's for the best. Even if Manu didn't take his being unsettled at Highbury seriously, it seems that the rest of the dressing room found it harder to ignore.