Arsene Wenger wants review of tapping-up laws

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called for a review of the tapping-up laws as he attempts to keep a hold of star midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

Skipper Fabregas is expected to return to Barcelona this summer after Arsenal reluctantly opened negotiations with the Catalan club, while Nasri has been linked with a move to both Manchester clubs.

Clubs are prohibited from approaching under-contract players directly and, while Wenger stopped short of accusing any team of such action, he believes they are able to find ways around the rule in order to help prise players away.

Asked if any clubs had tapped up his players, he said: "I would like to return the question to you. What do you think?

"We live in a realistic world. I do not want to assess what I cannot prove, but I know how things happen."

He added to various newspapers: "It doesn't necessarily go through the player or the agent, but I think it is a rule that has to be reviewed. It's not really respected."

Wenger has already been critical of the manner in which his players' futures have been played out in public this summer.

The Frenchman was frustrated by Barcelona midfielder Xavi after he claimed Fabregas had been "suffering" while he awaited a move back to Spain, while Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has also revealed he has tried to woo his France team-mate Nasri to Old Trafford.

"I've talked a lot with him in the holidays and told him how great it is to play for Manchester United and how important it would be for him to become one of the biggest players in the world," he said.

"I don't know how negotiations are at the moment, but he has a lot of clubs interested in him and he has to think.

"I just told him how good it would be for him coming here. He will have a nice welcome, and I can help as well because I'm French."