Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has denied rumours he turned down Real Madrid job after he left the gunners saying he doesn’t know what he will do next until January next year.

Real Madrid are actively searching for a new manager after dismissing former Spain national team boss Julen Lopetegui following a disastrous start to the season. But the 69-year-old Frenchman, who has been out of work since leaving Arsenal in the summer, quashed suggestions he has already rebuffed the advances of the La Liga giants.

‘I haven’t made any decision on my future yet,’ Wenger told beIN Sports on Wednesday. ‘Do I go straight away into management again or not? To be honest Real Madrid have not come back to me so I have not had to turn them down.

‘I take every problem when I have to face it and try to find a solution. At the moment I do not have that problem. I will decide in January what I will do.’ Wenger described reports he was close to taking over at AC Milan as ‘fake news’ on Tuesday but was less dismissive when it came to the job at Real.

Wenger, too, has been linked with a return to management but he said on Wednesday that he wanted to keep ‘contacts’ close to his chest until he reveals his plan in the new year. ‘At the moment I have taken contacts but I think it is better if it all stays confidential and I come out and speak about that when I know what I want to do,’ he added.