Wenger Wants Van Persie and Walcott to Sign New Arsenal Contracts Early - Report

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is determined to hold on to his best performers by offering them new and improved contracts, according to an Arsenal.com report.

The club expects to begin negotiations early in the summer, with both Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott having only a year left on their contracts.

"[We will try to arrange new contracts] very early," he said. "Yes I am [confident that these players will commit]. To say that I am always confident, yes I am. Of course we want to keep our best players," Arsenal.com quoted Wenger as saying.

"These players want to win things and they want to be in a team that has a chance. Our end of season will help that to help me convince them that they can [here]. It depends now how well we finish. Newspapers open talks now. They should inform me how much they offer and for how long because I would like to know!" the manager joked.

Arsenal would like to avoid a repeat of last season, when both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri refused to pledge their future to the club and left to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively, days before the end of the summer transfer window.