ARSENE WENGER has emerged as the favourite to replace Bruce Rioch as Arsenal manager after Johan Cruyff made it clear yesterday that he was not interested in the job.

"Me has told me he is not interested in a job at the moment," said Johan Derksan, Cruyff's spokesman. "He wants some time off from football."

It is understood that Arsenal have already spoken to Wenger, who has indicated he would be interested in the vacancy. But the Highbury club will have to buy the English speaking Frenchman out of the rest of his contract with the Japanese club Grampus Eight if they want him to start work before November.

Arsenal could get round that by continuing with the caretaker arrangement of Pat Rice and Stewart Houston who took charge for four months last year for the early weeks of the season.

It is unclear if Arsenal will make an announcement this week, though they are under pressure to sign any players they want before tomorrow, which is the deadline for eligibility for the first three rounds of the UEFA Cup.

They will have to do a heavy selling job on Wenger to pacify their supporters, however. Though the 47 year old former Monaco coach has long been admired by Arsenal, and considered for the job before, he is largely unknown and his appointment will not appease the Highbury faithful still angry at the way Rioch was treated like Cruyff's arrival would have.

The Arsenal board are probably hoping that Wenger's credibility has been heightened enough by Glenn Hoddle's invitation to Wenger to be the English FA's technical director, an offer he was considering.

Huddle was hugely influenced by Wenger when he played for Monaco as the Frenchman built a reputation for playing attacking football with sides studded with stars such as Djorkaeff, Scifo and Weah.

However, Wenger also knows the value of organisation on the field, which Arsenal traditionalists will appreciate. In fact Wenger is something of an anglophile. He so likes English football that in the mid 1980s he once spent the French league's winter break in England just watching games and training sessions.

A farmer player, he was coach of Cannes and Nancy before spending seven years at Monaco where he won the league championship, the French Cup reached the semi final of the European Cup and the final of the Cup Winners Cup.

He was recently voted Manager of the Year in the Japanese League all working wonders turning round the fortunes of Grampus Eight.

Cruyff's rejection was no surprise. He underwent heart bypass surgery three years ago and said on his departure from Barcelona in May. "I want to take a long break or retire altogether. I'm going to pay more attention to my family.

Meanwhile, more light has been thrown on the curious relationship between Rioch and Arsenal's vice chairman, David Dein, when it came to signing players.

It was alleged yesterday by the Arsenal striker Ian Wright that part of Rioch's downfall was fact that his transfer demands were unrealistic, and it was impossible to get some of the players he asked Dein to pursue.

But, according to sources, Rioch would first check through agents to make sure the player was available before approaching Dein. And had Dein gone through the right channels and acted at the right time Arsenal could have bought, at prices lower than they eventually went to other clubs, players such as Vialli, Ravenelli, Lizarazu, Seedorf, Sao Paulo and Roberto Carlos.

It is even understood that during Euro 96 Dein met the Juventus vice president who told him that, having just bought heavily, the Italian club were willing to sell several players as well as Ravanelli and Vialli to recoup some money. Dein was not interested.

Arsenal chairman Peter HillWood last night cited Rioch's alleged lack of communication as the main reason why he was sacked.

"He hardly talked to us. We did not know what was going on or what his thoughts were and that is not healthy," he told the Sun.

Hill Wood added. "We employed him in good faith and thought he was the right man for the job. He was not and now we are looking again.

"The new manager has to be a first class coach, someone to communicate with the players and the board."

And hinting at them likelihood of a foreign face at the Highbury held this season, the chairman said. Football has gone international in recent seasons and that is the route we will continue to fallow.

"The coach is responsible for the players and the team performance and the directors run the club. It works well on the Continent so why should it not work here?"