Arsenal on the brink

Perez is determined to trump the capture of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and even David Beckham if another term of office is to be secured.

The only Premiership players on his hit list are Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, who will miss tomorrow's match because of a thigh injury, and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Both Arsenal players have signed long- term deals at Highbury but their commitment was based on Wenger remaining manager.

Perez no longer has the unlimited supply of cash to make Arsenal an offer they cannot refuse for their best players but Real could get both much more cheaply and easily if they made it clear they wanted to follow their mentor to Madrid.

While Arsenal are confident they can retain Wenger's complete loyalty, there is a feeling he has taken the club as far as he can domestically.

He has won two championships, two FA Cups and has never finished a season outside the Premiership's top two.

The question he must answer is has he hit a similar wall in Europe? His elevation to UEFA's elite coaches group is recognition of his talent, though attending meetings of the technical forum alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi must make him realise how his European achievements pale in comparison to theirs.

A decision on Arsenal's new stadium is due in January and, should the club opt out of the project for any reason, they run the risk of alienating a manager who believes that the only way to progress is to move to a bigger home.

All of these worries will be suspended temporarily during 90 minutes of football tomorrow night in a match which can without doubt be labelled Arsenal's most important of the season.

Henry insists Arsenal can win the Champions League this season, despite picking up just one point from their first three games and having failed to win at home in Europe for six matches.

He said: 'We are not finished in the Champions League yet. Sometimes you have bad moments in football, but you can always come back.

'Whether you win or lose you have to look forward.'

Henry admits he has been baffled by the club's failure to perform in Europe's premier club competition. He added: 'When I first arrived we were doing badly in the League and well in the Champions League. Now it is the other way round.

'We know what we can do and people in England know how good we are, but we are just not doing it in Europe.'