We are not chasing Henry say Real Madrid

Real Madrid denied they are chasing Arsenal's French international striker Thierry Henry.

"We are not chasing Henry. There has been no discussion about this subject at the club," said Real's director of sport Jorge Valdano.

Reminded that Henry told Spanish paper Marca last weekend that he was happy in England and wanted to stay at Arsenal, Valdano said: "When someone says they do not want to come to Real Madrid everyone takes it to mean that they do in fact want to come."

Real issued a similar denial in April last year, when a club statement said they had "no intention of negotiating the signing of David Beckham". Two months later Beckham was a Real player.

The Spanish press is reporting that Real will re-enter the transfer market at the end of the season to add one of the world's top strikers - Henry, Manchester United's Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Liverpool's Michael Owen or Francesco Totti of Roma - to their formidable squad.

Arsenal broke the club's transfer record last week to sign Spanish striker Jose Antonio Reyes from Sevilla in a deal totalling 17 million pounds (30 million dollars).