Thierry Henry and Robert Pires have pledged their futures to Arsenal despite the almost certain sale of their French international team-mate Patrick Vieira to Real Madrid.
Vieira has told colleagues at Highbury than he will be leaving for the Bernabeu this summer but Henry and Pires have no intention of seeking a move in his wake.
Their loyalty will allay fears that the influential captain's departure could prompt such dressing-room disillusionment as to lead to the break-up of the Arsenal squad and, in particular, the vital French contingent.
Henry has spoken regularly about his contentment with life at Arsenal and has given private assurances that he will not look to go elsewhere if Vieira moves.
Pires is so happy at Highbury that he would be prepared to extend his contract, which expires in 2006, if Arsenal approached him. That seems unlikely in the near future, though, given that he agreed a new deal only last summer.
It will come as a relief to Arsenal supporters that Henry and Pires, two of the club's most important players, have not been unsettled by Vieira's desire to seek a fresh challenge.
Henry's value to the club can scarcely be overstated. The striker scored 39 times last season, including 30 in the league, as Arsenal won the championship unbeaten and has been a crucial source of goals, assists and inspiration since he joined from Juventus five years ago.
Pires added an impressive 19 goals from midfield last season. He has played with Vieira for several years at various levels for country and club but respects his friend's desire to move and remains committed to Arsenal.
Henry and Pires believe the club would continue to thrive in Vieira's absence, though they recognise the enormous contribution made by the midfielder at Highbury.
Vieira's admission to team-mates that he will start the season at Madrid confirms that attempts to persuade him to remain at Highbury have failed. Dennis Bergkamp has said the players have been telling the 28-year-old to stay and Arsene Wenger has tried to convince Vieira that his future lies at Premiership champions Arsenal.
Reports from Spain on Tuesday night that a £23.1 million deal had been struck by Madrid's president Florentino Perez and the Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein are understood to be premature but there seems little doubt that the transfer will proceed.
Madrid would like to finalise matters ahead of today's midday registration deadline for Madrid's Champions League qualifier but that looks unlikely. There is a feeling in Spain that the move will be finalised next week.
Madrid and Arsenal declined to comment yesterday on the situation but Wenger is due to face the media tomorrow, together with some of his players, in the lead-up to Sunday's Community Shield game against Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium.
A £23.1 million fee for Vieira would mean that the midfielder would cost less than Chelsea paid Marseille for the striker Didier Drogba, but any sale would not be made for financial reasons because funding is in place for the Ashburton Grove stadium project and there is no pressure to bring money into the club.
Meanwhile, Sven-Goran Eriksson's fate is unlikely to be sealed today despite an emergency board meeting this afternoon at an undisclosed central London location.
The 12-man FA board will hear the findings of an inquiry into the circumstances that led to an erroneous denial of Eriksson's affair with Faria Alam being issued.
Last night, though, the FA announced that regardless of the findings, the board could ask for more evidence from the parties involved, a sign that the confusion is set to rumble on.
In a statement the FA also said it had retained a second set of lawyers - Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP - to advise it on "matters arising" from the report, a further indication that the inquiry is unlikely to provide the tidy conclusion to the affair the FA so desperately needs.
The inquiry report will reveal the evidence gathered from the key players.
At the heart of the matter is the question whether the notorious conversation between David Davies and Eriksson was sufficiently unequivocal for the FA to be justified in issuing a denial.
The testimony of both men is likely to be measured against the terms of Eriksson's contract, which includes clauses relating to his behaviour and what constitutes misconduct, and the board is likely to seek legal advice on whether they have a case against Eriksson. A majority of the board would vote for the coach to be dismissed if they felt he could be disposed of cheaply.
Any move to dismiss would trigger a lengthy and potentially costly process, beginning with the board bringing disciplinary action against Eriksson or Alam. Such proceedings would require a motion to be proposed and seconded prior to a vote. If the vote were to end 6-6, Geoff Thompson would not have the casting vote, but merely offer a view before a second vote.
For the chairman, the afternoon promises to be uncomfortable. He cleared Mark Palios of wrongdoing last week only to accept the chief executive's resignation on Sunday, a piece of mismanagement that infuriated many board members.
Thompson could not be dismissed tomorrow, but he may find himself the subject of a vote of no confidence. Any motion to remove him would need to be ratified at the next meeting of the FA council in October.
The prospect of a protracted wrangle over the leadership of the FA may be too much for some to stomach, however, and despite being deeply compromised Thompson could survive in the short term.
Guardian Service
