Ljungberg deal brings joy at last to Arsenal

Freddie Ljungberg yesterday committed his long-term future to Arsenal by extending his contract until the summer of 2009.

With Patrick Vieira departing this summer and Robert Pires waiting until January before deciding on his future after reaching deadlock in contract talks, the news that Ljungberg is staying with the Gunners will be warmly received.

The Swedish international, 28, whose existing deal had been due to expire next summer, said: "I've been at Arsenal nearly seven years now and am really happy to have signed a new contract with the club."

Ljungberg cost £3m when he arrived from the Swedish side Halmstad in September 1998, and has matured into one of manager Arsène Wenger's most astute signings, with 265 appearances and 68 goals.

Pires has been linked with moves to Juventus and Galatasaray after failing to agree fresh terms with the Gunners, but he remains in north London and seems likely to begin the season an Arsenal player.

The 32-year-old French winger, whose contract is up next summer, has been offered a one-year extension to his contract but he wants two years.

"We'll talk again in January. There is nothing new about my contract situation and things are not going to change now," he said. "I'm going to play through the last year of my contract and I will meet with Arsène Wenger early in the New Year. That will be the source of motivation for me in the months before then. I'm going to be in the same position as Dennis Bergkamp has been in for some years.

Olivier Dacourt's agent, meanwhile, yesterday downplayed the midfielder's latest link to Arsenal and hinted that Lyon was a more likely destination for the Frenchman. The former Leeds United and Everton midfielder, 30, had been touted as a replacement for Patrick Vieira at Highbury, if only on a short-term basis.

But if he is to leave the Serie A club Roma this summer, according to his agent Bruno Satin, France is a more likely destination than north London.

"We've had no news from Arsenal," Satin said. "It's hard to know where these latest claims have come from. There has been no contact recently."

However, if Michael Essien leaves Lyon for Chelsea, a deal which remains on a knife-edge as the clubs dispute their valuation of the player, then Dacourt could join the dominant team in France for the past four seasons.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United are in negotiations with the out-of-contract Australian defender Craig Moore.

Moore, 29, who has had two five-year spells with Rangers, controversially parted with Borussia Mönchengladbach last season. The club claimed that he had been sacked for drinking, an allegation denied by Moore.

Middlesbrough had previously been linked with Moore and were interested in signing him during the January transfer window.