Roy Hodgson has ruled himself out of signing any players from Fulham - including defender Brede Hangeland - leaving the way clear for Arsenal to swoop for the highly-rated central defender.
After quitting Craven Cottage to take over at Liverpool last week, it was widely reported Hodgson would look to 'raid' his former club for several players - including Hangeland, who had also followed the experienced coach from Norwegian club Viking to west London in 2008.
However, Hodgson has categorically ruled out any talk of poaching Fulham's stars as he looks to build a Liverpool squad in his image - saying it was one of the pledges he had made to Mohamed al Fayed when the Fulham chairman allowed him to leave for Anfield.
'I won't be raiding Fulham,' he said.
'I've made that commitment to the club, who were good enough, albeit reluctantly, to allow me to speak to Liverpool and take the job here.
'I have great respect for everyone there, I had magnificent support from the chairman Mr Al Fayed and the chief executive.
'And the one thing I made clear to the [Liverpool] chairman is that I certainly don't want to go in and raid Fulham FC because that wouldn't be the right thing to do.'
Hodgson's pledge leaves the way open for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to approach the Cottagers over Hangeland - who is reportedly considering his future at the club in the light of the former coach's departure.
The Gunners are in desperate need of reinforcements at the back following the release of out-of-contract defenders William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre, and a likely move to Celtic for veteran Sol Campbell.
Hodgson has so far refused to be drawn on the question of potential transfers to Liverpool, although speculation suggests he could be handed a £40million transfer kitty to begin restructuring the squad.
However, he has already made clear he wants to keep senior players such as Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher - not to mention top-rated striker Fernando Torres, who is again being linked with a move to another Premier League side thought to be Chelsea.
'I'll have to deal with the question of the sort of players we will be signing to a later date,' Hodgson added.
'I need to sit down with the coaches and the chief executive and discuss things first.'
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