Arsenal deny 2012 plan

Arsenal today distanced themselves from discussions over a possible move to a future Olympic stadium in London and indicated they were closer than ever to getting the money for Ashburton Grove.

London bid chief executive Keith Mills admitted talks had already taken place with a handful of clubs about becoming anchor tenants if the city wins the right to stage the Olympics in 2012.

He refused to identify any of the clubs who expressed an interest. But in addition to West Ham and Tottenham, who have already confirmed their interest, Standard Sport understands Arsenal have had "exploratory" discussions with bid chiefs.

Arsenal denied that is the case and said in a statement: "There is no plan B. We are within touching distance of securing funding for the new stadium at Ashburton Grove and remain fully committed to relocating there."

Arsenal have struggled to finance the £450million project and have set a deadline of the end of the year to find the money or face the prospect of scrapping the plan. Mills is keen on the kind of groundshare that is common in Italy and Germany. "It would provide a great example to the rest of the country," he said.

Bid officials announced yesterday that the stadium at Stratford will hold 80,000 people but the capacity could be reduced to around 60,000 after the Games. Moving to Stratford would make sense for Arsenal, if Ashburton Grove fell through, since the stadium will be just a few minutes' journey from Kings Cross.