Patrick Vieira has underlined his commitment to Arsenal in the face of interest from Italy and insisted he will not be leaving Highbury until at least the end of his contract in 2004.
The Frenchman has again repeated his warning to the club not to lose their best players, as he believes they did last summer in selling Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars to Barcelona.
Vieira insists he was not speaking out of frustration in the wake of the club's elimination from the Champions League or with malicious intent, but simply out of a desire to achieve further success.
And amid reported interest from several Italian clubs, he offered long-term hope to Arsenal by insisting his transfer to Highbury had been a "dream move", that he had developed as a player and he could stay for "years to come".
While the uncertain future of manager Arsene Wenger, who insists Vieira will not be sold, could affect his own position, the French international was at pains to portray a far more content figure than he did last week.
PA