Chelsea assistant boss Steve Clarke has cooled talk of a move to Arsenal for Lassana Diarra.

He said: "Lassana came in last season and started nine or 10 games and that is good going for a young player at a club like Chelsea.

"Last January he came to me and spoke about his need to get more playing time. After that, he came in to the team and did very well.

"But we don't want to lose players to one of our rivals.

"Last year William Gallas joined Arsenal, but that was because we were getting Ashley Cole in the deal."