Wenger: Real bend the rules

Arsene Wenger today renewed his attack on Real Madrid for the methods they use to sign players.

The Arsenal manager sparked a row with the Spanish giants on the day the new Champions League campaign starts by also hinting that the club attempted to illegally poach Patrick Vieira from Highbury.

Wenger said: "The system is clear in the world of soccer and it should be the same for everyone. To make a signing, you have to first contact the club and then the player. And they (Madrid) sometimes haven't worked like that."

Wenger is not impressed by the methods of Real's all-powerful president Florentino Perez, who admitted at the weekend that he was interested in signing Liverpool's Steven Gerrard.

"You get the impression Florentino signs whoever he wants but in Vieira's case it didn't work out that way," Wenger said. "Patrick suddenly changed his mind without any pressure from us or anyone else. There's no other hidden reason."

FIFA would be obliged to investigate Wenger's 'tapping up' claims if Arsenal make an official complaint to support the allegations. The world governing body's rules forbid any club from making a direct or indirect approach to a contracted player of another club without permission. But Wenger's allegations lead him open to accusations of hypocrisy.

The Arsenal manager admitted three years ago, soon after accusing Manchester United of 'tapping up' Vieira that he, too, had spoken to the agents of contracted players.

But he stressed that he always stopped short of 'illegal' approaches to players.

Asked in 2001 if he had ever made an approach to a player or agent, the Arsenal manager said: "You can always ask an agent if his player is for sale or not. Of course, I have done that. The agent can say he's got four years left on his contract and that he's happy. If that is the case then I stop it."