One of the odder transfer stories this week comes courtesy of the Mirror‘s John Cross who claims that Arsenal and Chelsea have a rather unusual agreement when it comes to their young players.

According to apparent Arsenal fan, Cross, both clubs have a secret agreement not to sign each other’s promising youth talent. Supposedly, it’s fine if they’re available for free and want to make the switch but tapping up is strictly not allowed.

Where, when or how this apparent agreement came about, no one appears to know. Is it to do with the managers or higher up than that? The latter is more likely considering the Blues change coaches more often than they change their socks.

This is why, apparently, we’ve signed a senior player in Petr Cech while they signed Ashley Cole. Senior players = fine; young players = not fine.

It sounds a bit far out there and I’m not entirely convinced, but it’s a rather interesting rumour none the less.