Wenger: I'm not looking to replace Flamini

Dismissing reports that Arsenal have made a move for St Etienne midfielder Loic Perrin, Arsene Wenger has insisted he is not casting around for potential replacements for Mathieu Flamini.

The France international is out of contract at the end of the season and, with talks over a new deal still to be resolved, there have been suggestions that Wenger is planning to compensate for his potential departure by making a new signing.

Wenger has made clear his priority is to keep Flamini though, disregarding any suggestions that Perrin is a target for the North London club.

“That’s not true,” Wenger told Arsenal TV regarding the reports surrounding Perrin.

“I’m not looking for any replacements for Flamini. I am first looking to keep my players together, and the second step, then we will see but my first intention is to keep the players I have.”

Wenger remains positive that Flamini will commit his future to the club, despite persistent reports linking him with Juventus, and has revealed talks could be coming to a conclusion in the coming weeks.

He added: “We are on course there, negotiations are going well and we hope to sort that out in April.”

Gilberto Silva’s future looks far less assured though as Flamini’s excellent form has restricted the Brazil international to late cameos as a substitute this season and he has openly admitted he may have to leave Emirates Stadium in the summer for the good of his career.

Whilst Wenger is reluctant to speculate on whether Gilberto will indeed leave the club, the Arsenal manager has confirmed he will hold talks with the club’s second longest serving player at the end of the season.

“It is down to Gilberto’s desire because at the moment he doesn’t play,” said Wenger.

“We will sit down together, we are adults and Gilberto is a very strong man and a good personality and he will know what he wants to do at the end of the season.

“I will be happy if he stays but we will sort that out at the end of the season. He is a fantastic player and a fantastic personality. He has a lot of credit in the group and a lot of quality, his bad luck is that we started without him and we have done well.”

Toure - We'll give everything

Arsenal defender Kolo Toure believes his team-mates have the ability to claim a crucial victory at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Gunners' recent form has been less than impressive, with Saturday's 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough at Emirates Stadium their fourth consecutive stalemate.

Manchester United now occupy top spot in the Premier League, while Chelsea have impressed of late and sit three points behind Arsenal in third.

Silly

But Toure has warned Avram Grant's side that The Gunners will 'give everything' as they look to retighten their grip on the race for title glory.

"Again we were chasing the game [on Saturday] after conceding a really silly goal," Toure told the club's official website. "It is always difficult for the team to come back and we are lucky that we scored a late goal again.

"Now we just need to keep going and win the big games. We are still in the title race and as long as we play like we did late on [against Middlesbrough] then in other games we might be more lucky.

"We will try to go to Chelsea and get some points. We know that we can go anywhere and win - we have shown that in Milan. We need to repeat that kind of performance next week and then we can beat Chelsea.

Confident

"We do not have a match now in the week, so we will rest and when we come back, we will be full of energy and can give everything. The most important thing is to be confident and play your game, stay strong in your mind and believe that until the end it is not finished.

"It is going to be an exciting finish to the Premier League. Whichever team is more confident and consistent is going to win the title.

"At the moment it is hard because we have dropped two points in every game. But when we get back to winning, we can carry that on until the end of the season."