KUALA LUMPUR: The man dubbed The Professor – Arsenal FC’s famous manager Arsene Wenger – is in town.

The 59-year-old Frenchman’s visit, made possible by Castrol, is part of the brand’s sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“They wanted to get more involved with football and I wasn’t too bad of an ambassador for them,” said Wenger, who helped to develop the “Castrol Index” last year – a definitive system to rate the world’s best players. The Castrol Index uses the latest technology to objectively analyse and rank player performance.

Wenger’s press conference at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur also attracted journalists from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and ESPN anchor John Dykes.

Towering at 1.93m, Wenger looked a picture of seriousness but some of his witty comments had the audience in stitches.

The manager of one of the biggest clubs in the competitive English Premier League spoke fondly of his visit to the country a decade ago with Arsenal for a friendly match against the national team.

“It was interesting when we played in Malaysia and Bangkok. I only had the chance to visit Kuala Lumpur but you always get a superficial view of the country in the capital.

“I was in Singapore yesterday and I should have taken a car to Kuala Lumpur to see more of the country,” he said with a laugh.

The legendary Arsenal manager said he would love to bring his team to Malaysia again if not for the hectic post-season games for national teams and pre-season training.

“Every time I want to go on tour at the end of the season, I have no team left. If I come with the reserve team, fans won’t be happy – so I just stay home,” said Wenger.

Asked what he does to relax, he answered matter-of-factly: “I watch football.”

“I relax when I’m not personally involved with the team. In Europe, we have a game on television almost every night. I can just enjoy the football without the stress of winning or losing,” he said.

Those who want to catch a glimpse of Wenger at work can do so at Dataran Merdeka today. He will be conducting the Castrol Performance Challenge with the Malaysian Youth football team at 12.30pm.

Ajax centre-back Thomas Vermaelen claims he is on the verge of a move to Arsenal.

The Gunners are reported to have agreed a £10m fee for the 23-year-old Belgiun international.

Vermaelen told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad: "Moving to Arsenal is the right path for me.

"It is a great sporting challenge and I will also be financially better off. I think everything is going to be okay.

"In the coming days there will be more talks.''

Arsenal golden boy Theo Walcott has confessed that the player he would most like to emulate is Ryan Giggs, an icon of one of their fiercest rivals Manchester United.

The former Southampton prodigy is still an infant compared to United's veteran Welsh winger both in terms of age and achievements, but many would argue that his potential as a player is just as great.

"I want to be like Ryan Giggs. Deep down all players want what Giggsy's got - medals, goals, everything but most of all trophies," Walcott said in the latest edition of Esquire magazine.

The England international, whom Arsenal broke the bank for when he was just 16, went on to admit that he's a bit of a goody-goody and that, combined with his baby-face, led to a rather unenviable nickname when he first arrived.

"They used to call me Sweet Little Boy. That's why I grew the beard and 'tache. They can't use that any more," he laughed.

"My family kept my feet on the ground. If I'd done anything wrong they would have got to know about it. But I was a good little boy."

Whether he is still regarded as a boy our not, the 21-year-old has become an important part of England's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, becoming the youngest player in history to score three goals in a match for the Three Lions with his unforgettable hat-trick during the 4-1 win in Croatia.

Super-spenders Manchester City do not interest Edin Dzeko, however, the Bosnian striker could be tempted by the lure of Milan or Arsenal, according to his agent, Irfan Redzepagic.
Dzeko is in demand from Europe's elite following his goal-scoring exploits for Wolfsburg during the concluding half of the Bundesliga campaign. The Bosnian formed one half of the most successful strike partnership in German top flight history along with Grafite.

There was initial speculation that the burgeoning 23-year-old would stay at the Volkswagen Arena following the club's title success last term. However, Arsenal's offer is one that Dzeko and his agent will "treat very seriously".

The player's representative is quoted by Onet as stating, "It is not possible for Dzeko, who is a leading player in Germany and has the chance to play in the Champions League, to go to a mid-table club like Manchester City."

However, Redzepagic added, "Arsenal would be a different matter. The Londoners’ offer is one we treat very seriously."

An offer that could exceed £25 million is expected to tempt Wolfsburg to cash-in on their striking product. It is also a fee that Milan vice president Adriano Galliani is said to be pondering.

Should Dzeko favour a move to Serie A over the Premier League, then it appears Milan would be the player's preferred destination, as he recently confirmed to The Daily Mail. "They have always been my favourite club, right back to my days as a small boy, growing up in Sarajevo," he said.

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce insisted there was no option but to field goalkeeper Joe Lewis as a striker for the final 15 minutes of the 7-0 friendly victory over Azerbaijan.

With six of his European Championship squad rested or unavailable, Pearce only had four outfield substitutes and had already used them before Lee Cattermole picked up a slight calf problem.

Pearce did not want to disrespect his opponents by playing with 10 men at stadium:mk and his solution was to bring on Peterborough goalkeeper Lewis.

It was a similar story in 2005 when he told David James to play in attack against Middlesbrough - but on this occasion it was a ''forced'' move.

''We had to do that because Cat's pulled a slight injury and with the tournament a week away we were at a loss as what to do,'' Pearce said.

''We used all our outfield subs and Joe put himself forward to go up front. It was a forced sub. Whichever way we did it we didn't want to be seen as disrespectful. That was the last thing I wanted.''

Michael Mancienne's early strike, an own goal by goalkeeper Elchin Sadigov and a cool finish from Craig Gardner established a half-time lead at MK Dons' ground.

Nodar Mammadov then diverted into his own net after the break and Kieran Gibbs added another two before Lewis came on.

''He thought it was a doddle up three, he thought he ran more than Fraizer Campbell but we'll show him the video,'' Pearce added.

Jack Rodwell added the seventh with a deflected effort in stoppage-time.

''As a manager you can't ask for more than that,'' Pearce said. ''Apart from a couple of niggles we've got through pretty much unscathed.''

Pearce's lack of numbers was because James Milner and Theo Walcott were with the seniors, while Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha and Gabriel Agbonlahor rested slight knocks.

''They are back at their clubs,'' Pearce said. ''They are just little things and they will report again on Thursday and most will hopefully will clear up.''

Pearce is confident there will be no late pull-outs from players. ''The spirit is too good in the camp,'' he said. ''I've had the boys for the last two days, they've been fantastic and they would be crestfallen if they missed it.

''We had to send the captain (Steven Taylor) back and Danny Welbeck to Manchester United and they were crestfallen.''