Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insists Gabriel Magalhaes is not for sale.
The Brazil defender is a target for Al-Ittihad and Real Madrid.
But Arteta said: "Of course I have explained to him why he's not in the team - especially someone who has played a lot of minutes and games with us in the last year.
I told him. He understands the reasons.
"Whether he agrees with it is something different. But the best way to do it is when you play, just tell me how blind and wrong I am."