Ray Parlour is reported to have signed a new contract with Arsenal to keep him at the club until 2004... and, according to Soccernet, the end of his career (surely premature?).

'A player of his calibre could have accepted a more lucrative offer to move,' said agent Steve Kutner - 'Ray never wanted to leave Arsenal, and is delighted that it has been sorted out.'

And Soccernet also reckons that Dennis Bergkamp is about to sign a 2-year contract extension, including a nice little pay rise, to keep him at Arsenal until the end of the 2002-3 season.

We've checked Dennis's official site... and there's no mention of any deal there. [But there is news that Dennis bought his son a toy toolkit for Christmas. And what a classic footballer quote: talking about Christmas Day, he says - 'I had a great day with my family and I'd like to thank them and everyone else who contributed to me having such a great day'.]