Football365 has been speaking to Robert Pires, and he's talking as if he doesn't know any more than we do.

"According to my agent a deal with Arsenal is close," he told their Eurofinals site. "Being managed by Wenger would really improve my game ... The management and the club structure are ideal." And perhaps most encouragingly of all: "Money is not everything, my priority is play in the Champions League."

The usual suspects are claiming a deal could be done as early as the end of the week. 365 says the deadline is the start of Euro 2000.

And a quickie: we suggested the tabloids would be quick to link a Barcelona Dutchman with a Highbury move if Van Gaal moved on (or got moved on). But we never expected the Sunday Mirror to link us with Winston Bogarde, less than 24 hours after Van Gaal's exit. The first, we fear, of many.