Arsenal Target Five Players in Summer Spending Spree – Report

Arsene Wenger will be handed a significant transfer kitty in the summer after being told by Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke that he is still the man to take the club forward.

The Daily Mail has reported that a board meeting was held with the American and that Wenger's job is under no threat despite discontent among supporters after the 3-1 home defeat to Bayern Muncih in the Champions League.

Having already been knocked out of both domestic cups by Bradford and Blackburn, the Champions League was the last hope of ending an eight year spell without any silverware but that appears highly unlikely after Tuesday's result at the Emirates.

The report also believes that Wenger will see out the remainder of his contract, which ends in the summer of 2014, and will therefore be handed major funds with which to overhaul his underperforming squad.

It is believed that Wenger will have in the region of £150million to spend at the end of the season and that he has already drawn up a list of five players he would like to see make the move to north London.

The Daily Mail believes that Wenger's main targets are Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, Borussia Dortmund's Mario Gotze, Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic and midfielders Etienne Capoue of Toulouse and Celtic's Victor Wanyama.

The difficultly will be in persuading these players that Arsenal are still a major draw, despite the fact that they are not certain of finishing in the top four this season and achieving Champions League football.

German international Gotze would almost certainly demand to be playing in Europe's elite competition after impressing for the Bundesliga side this season and becoming a regular in the first team.

There is also likely to be interest from numerous clubs in these players as the likes of Wanyama and Jovetic have consistently been linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

As well as the Arsenal board being behind Wenger, it seems the players are also backing the Frenchman to remain in charge of the club.

Theo Walcott said: "We've got the best man in the job to get our heads back to where they should be."