Chinese Super League (CSL) side Shandong Luneng have denied approaching outgoing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after media reports claimed that the Frenchman was offered a "lucrative move" to China.
Wenger is due to leave Arsenal at the end of the ongoing Premier League season, thereby ending his 22-year-old managerial reign with the Gunners.
Shandong, who are currently on the second spot of the CSL table, denied rumors, saying they wouldn't want to replace their current manager Li Xiaopeng. They made a tongue-in-cheek remark while making the clarification.
"We are surprised to learn from our friends online that Mr Wenger will be transferring to our club," Shandong said, as quoted by Reuters.
The club added: "Should we prepare a welcome dinner for him? We're afraid the Professor won't be a fan of our local style barbecue, so we are not inviting him over. We're very comfortable with our own Professor Li."
Wenger was offered a deal worth more than £460,000-a-week, which China national football team manager Marcello Lippi, the highest-paid football manager in the world, earns, according to The Mirror.
Notably, a lot of European tacticians, including the likes of Lippi, Felipe Scolari, and Manuel Pellegrini, have moved to China along with a few superstar players in the recent past.
Speculations were rife as Wenger had the experience of working in Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight before he joined Arsenal in 1996.
68-year-old Wenger though has made it clear that he is not thinking about retired but insisted he will be needing a month's breaking after the end of his Arsenal stint, according to The Sun.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife that Paris Saint-Germain would want to appoint the Frenchman as their general manager. Notably, Unai Emery confirmed he would be leaving the Ligue 1 giants at the end of the season.
