Arsenal want to keep Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, says Arsene Wenger, but Shkodran Mustafi's future is unclear

The England midfielder is a target for Chelsea, who will bid £35m this week

Chelsea are targeting the versatile England man (Getty)

Arsene Wenger says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is one of the key young players he wants to build the future of Arsenal around, and has no intention of selling him to Chelsea in this window. The 24-year-old is in the last year of his contract and has attracted the attention of Antonio Conte, who sees the midfielder’s versatility as a key asset as he looks to bolster several areas of the champions squad. So, however, does Wenger.

Asked whether Oxlade-Chamberlain has told him he wants to stay at the Emirates, Wenger said: “All these conversations that I have [I say] that I want him to stay and be one of the big players of the future of this club. He is one of the players this team has to be built around in the future. Personally I want him to commit to the club and to be one of the carrier of the values of our team.

“I want to keep my best players. I only have one target: to keep everybody on board. I think we invested a lot of time, confidence and money on players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who we bought at a young age. For me, they have a responsibility for the future of this club because Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be one of the big English players in the coming years. I personally am highly determined to keep him here at the club and I hope he will commit.”

Wenger was asked about reports that he will meet with Oxlade-Chamberlain on Thursday and joked: “We all have our agendas that are quite busy but we do not publish them. Some people look better informed than I am! My secretary has my agenda, I will check what I have to do today.”

Wenger was much less strident on whether Shkodran Mustafi will leave, amid interest from Juventus and Internazionale.

“It’s difficult for me to speak about any individual cases because we are now in the final seven days of the transfer market. It’s always very difficult to predict what will happen there. You have to make quick and sharp decisions, and you cannot plan that and come out in the press conference with how you will respond to any solicitation.”