Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is handing the captaincy to Kolo Toure.

Wenger revealed yesterday he has made Toure skipper until the injured Cesc Fabregas returns.

The Ivory Coast international has also withdrawn his request to leave, which followed a bust-up with William Gallas.

Toure, 27, becomes the SEVENTH player to wear the captain's armband this season, after Gallas, Fabregas, Mikael Silvestre, Robin van Persie, Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Almunia.

Wenger had indicated before he would rotate the captaincy until Fabregas is fit to return from his knee injury.

But the Frenchman, whose side take on Bolton at the Emirates today, said: "Kolo Toure will play against Bolton, so when Kolo Toure plays he is captain. I don't know what made him withdraw the transfer request.

"You watch him work every day and he works like mad with his commitment. He is the longest- serving player we have and, because of his quality, I would hate to see him go.

"He is very honest, a great person and I rate him. Apart from not playing him sometimes, I never have any problem with him. But that's part of being a manager. You can only start with 11 players, not 22."