Arsenal officials have moved quickly to head off a bogus report that manager Arsene Wenger had signed a new four-year contract. But the Gunners have also indicated that it is only a formality - and that it will happen soon.

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood told Arsenal shareholders at their annual meeting at Highbury yesterday that the Frenchman had agreed to commit himself to four more years in charge of the club. There was rapturous applause when Wenger verbally confirmed it.

But the deal which is an extension by three years on Wenger's original contract that still has nearly a year to run, remains unsigned.

An Arsenal spokeswoman said: "Arsene Wenger has not actually signed a new agreement yet but everything is agreed in principle and is just a matter of time."

Some Arsenal fans are becoming jittery over the delay because the Gunners opened fresh negotiations with their manager just a few days after the FA Cup Final win against Newcastle in May.