Wenger sticks to guns on Pires deal

Arsene Wenger would like nothing more than for Robert Pires to stay at Arsenal, but will “remain faithful” to club policy on the length of new deals for senior players.

The French World Cup winner, who will be 33 in October, is out of contract at the end of the season.

Discussions continue over new terms, which Pires would prefer to be longer than the current club stance of offering only a one-year contract to senior members of the squad, as has been done in the past with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and now goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

The midfielder feels the current generation of young Arsenal players have “huge potential” and would relish the opportunity to help them further develop when the club moves to their new 60,000 Emirates Stadium next season.

Wenger said: “It is not inevitable that he will leave. Robert has a choice to make whether to stay or go.

“I want him to stay because he is an important player in the squad – we have such a young squad that the experience of players like Robert Pires will always be important to us.”

However, the Arsenal boss maintained: “He wants more than one year, but I remain faithful to our policy.”

The Gunners warmed up for the second leg of their Champions League clash against Real Madrid this week with a 4-0 thrashing of Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Arsenal hold a slender advantage following Thierry Henry’s brilliant individual effort and an impressive all-round team display in the Bernabeu a fortnight ago.

Defender Emmanuel Eboue feels Wenger’s men must concentrate on their own performances on Wednesday night, rather than worry about how Real’s stars may or may not perform at Highbury.

“We need to play our game,” the 23-year-old Ivory Coast international declared. "We must not let them attack too much and we defend all the time – but we must play like we are used to playing.”

Eboue told the club’s official website, www.arsenal.com: “The mistake would be to think that we are already qualified.

“But if we work well and if we are confident and play with the ball, I think we will go through.”