Vieira came close to moving to Madrid before the start of this season, only to change his mind at the last minute.

Real are not used to losing out on an intended purchase and president Florentino Perez was quoted at the weekend as revealing he had already tied up a deal to bring Lauren to the Bernabeu next season.

However, although the former Cameroon international is out of contract at the end of this season, he is not actually allowed to start talks with other clubs until January 1.

Any contact made before then would, technically, constitute an illegal approach and there was more than a hint of frustration in Wenger’s voice as he addressed the issue.

The Arsenal manager insisted: “I’m not anxious about that. Lauren is out of contract at the end of June and he can sign where he wants on January 1, but we will try to keep him.

“At the moment, he cannot have signed anywhere as it’s not allowed. But in football, sometimes things happen which are not allowed – especially in that domain!”

Lauren, who was a £7.5m (€10.8m) signing from Real Mallorca in June 2000, had meanwhile told the Sunday Times: “I’d like to stay at Arsenal.

“I feel good here and think Arsenal’s the best place to be. But I’m just 27. I can go anywhere. So it’s not a problem.

“Arsenal know what I need and how to cope with this situation. From next month, I can speak to other clubs, but I’m not thinking about that. I’m just concentrating on my game.”