Gaspart said , "I spoke personally to Arsene Wenger and Roma's Fabio Capello about possibly taking over at the end of the season. Unfortunately, I couldn't guarantee that anyone would actually take over as the matter depends on Ferrer's success. Capello didn't want to wait and see, so he renewed his contract at Roma. Wenger told me he still has a contract with Arsenal that runs until 2002 and that he wanted to fulfil that. So both men are ruled out."

Nice to see that while Capello's reason doesn't preclude his being keen on a move, Wenger's singing the same tune as always: he won't break his contract. It's nice to have a boss that's so predictable in these ways.

Also, credit where it's due, Gaspart could have tried to stir things more at Arsenal but he's said it straight. They know Arsene doesn't want to go so they're going to look elsewhere.

Of course, as the end of Wenger's contract approaches these stories are going to take off like never before, what with him being one of the most sought-after men in world football. So we have to hope that Arsenal will be able to get him to sign a hefty new contract, so that date never gets too near.