And on it goes. The grand saga of Arsenal. Everything's a saga at Arsenal, haven't you noticed? Arsene Wenger's future, will Alexis Sanchez stay or go, whither Mesut Ozil, will Alisher Usmanov depose Stan Kroenke? Just about every other major club in Europe works with a director of football but, at Arsenal, the very mention induces months of agonised uncertainty.
Yet here's the strange thing. Where's the plot? Where's the beef? Peel it all away and where is the tension in this story? We know that, deep down, Wenger wants to stay. We know, similarly, that the club want to keep him.