Real deny contact with Wenger

REAL MADRID sporting director Jorge Valdano has denied any club official has spoken or met with Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger in the past fortnight.

The Frenchman is thought to be on Madrid’s list of potential replacements for Vicente del Bosque.

Wenger had reportedly met Madrid club president Florentino Perez, although Wenger insisted he was “committed to Arsenal” and unprepared to “get involved in any of this speculation”.

Valdano, questioned on a Spanish TV show, El Dia Antes, admitted that the club had several names in mind should they decide a change of leadership was necessary.

“But if the question is whether or not we have met Wenger in the past two weeks, then the answer is no,” said Valdano.

*Meanwhile, Alex Ferguson believes he could go on managing Manchester United for the next decade.

The Old Trafford boss is midway through a two-year extension to his contract and has not ruled out emulating Newcastle United’s 70-year-old manager Bobby Robson.

Ferguson, 61, has new appetite for the game after lifting the Barclaycard Premiership title and his victory in the mind games over fierce rival Arsene Wenger.

Ferguson said: “Would I want to be doing the job at Bobby’s age? Would I want to be a manager at 70? I couldn’t rule it out. This year I have felt terrific. I have never felt so fit.”

Overhauling Arsenal’s early lead in the title race also justified Ferguson’s decision to stay on at Old Trafford. “When you’ve been in this job as long as I have, you thrive on the sort of challenge Arsene provides. I was really up for it.

“Maybe the confidence Arsenal were showing got my hackles up and the old adrenaline flowing. I enjoyed the battle. You have no idea how important it was to me to win the title back.