The rumours last week were saying that Arsenal were lining up the Brazilian Jadson from Shakhtar Donetsk as a marquee signing to announce when Fabregas transfer to Barcelona is confirmed, but Wenger was directly asked about it on Friday he said: “nowhere near on Jadson” and said the club were “not talking to Shakhtar about him.”

But yesterday this statement was contradicted by the Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu, who said: “I can confirm Jadson is wanted by Arsenal. Now it all depends on him.”

Obviously Wenger hates anyone talking about his transfer targets before they are signed and sealed, especially as other clubs always seem to jump in with counter offers at the last minute, but even the player himself has indicated that there could be something in the pipeline when he said on Twitter: “My friends! If all goes well at the start of next week I will have news for you.”