Wenger comes clean on Flamini

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he is sure Mathieu Flamini will sign a new deal; but has set a deadline of April for the French midfielder to sign a new contract so that 'le Boss' can find a suitable replacement.

“We are getting close to ‘yes' or -no',” Wenger said. “He wants to stay and I believe him. But as long as he has not signed, he is free to sign where he wants. We have set ourselves a target at the end of April to finalise the situation, one way or the other.

“April is an absolute deadline because, afterwards, we have to make decisions in the transfer market. My first target is to keep the team together, but we want to continue to respect our wage structure. That is very important. Flamini has to fit in that.”