Nicollin rules out Chelsea or Arsenal switch

Chelsea and Arsenal have both been told to forget about signing Montpellier centre-half Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa in January, reports The Sun.

The Ligue 1 champions' club president Louis Nicollin, has reacted angrily to continued speculation linking the French international with a move away in the forthcoming transfer window.

"Is there any possibility that Yanga-Mbiwa will leave in January? Absolutely not," he stressed to calciomercato.com. "We're working on extending Yanga-Mbiwa's contract.

"In any case, the only thing that's certain at the moment is that Yanga-Mbiwa won’t leave in January."

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is a known admirer of the 23-year-old, and has been weighing up an attempt to lure him to the Emirates Stadium.

However, Arsenal could face direct competition from Premier League rivals Chelsea, with Roberto Di Matteo also considering a rival bid to bring him to Stamford Bridge.

With Yanga-Mbiwa's Montpellier contract set to expire at the end of the season, a host of Europe's biggest clubs are all monitoring his situation, but Chelsea and Arsenal remain the frontrunners in England for his signature.

"Are Juventus and Barcelona are also interested in Yanga-Mbiwa? To be honest, nobody has asked us about him," Nicollin added.

"I don't know if any clubs have been in contact with Yanga-Mbiwa's agent, and I honestly don't care."