Arsene Wenger: Arsenal are in talks to extend Samir Nasri’s contract, and can still win the title this season

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal

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Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Samir Nasri is in discussions with Arsenal over a new contract.

The midfielder and his team-mate, Gael Clichy, are both on the verge of entering the final year of their respective contracts with the Gunners.

And with 23-year-old Nasri having put in strong performances in midfield, the former Monaco boss appears to be keen to tie the player down to an extended stay in north London.

“We are talking to Nasri and his agent already and we have the same situation with Clichy,” Wenger told reporters.

“We have agreed to speak about it during the summer.”

By then Arsenal will have gone six seasons without any silverware if they do not win the Premier League this campaign. And with the Gunners currently trailing Manchester United by some distance, beating the Red Devils to the title is looking increasingly improbable.

Yet Wenger has allayed fears that some of his top players might leave Arsenal because of an inability to win top honours, insisting that they can do it at north London.

He said: “The players have the opportunity here to do it in their own way, with their own philosophy, with their own togetherness.”

And he expects his important players to remain with the club rather than demand a move elsewhere.

“When you sign a contract for four or five years, you are committed through your contract to win trophies with the club where you sign,” said Wenger.

“It is in no contract that if you do not win a trophy the first year, you can leave.”

The Frenchman continues to believe that the wait for a trophy could end soon, and feels it is unfair to place the blame for six barren seasons solely on his footballing principles.

“Nobody asks them to wait. We can win straight away,” Wenger continued.

“You speak like the players are not responsible for winning trophies. They are as well responsible, as I am, as the fans are.

“Why do you think we pay the players? A club, a football team, is a togetherness between the manager, the players, the club, the philosophy, and a commitment.

“After that you can have some individual situations, but it cannot be a philosophy that if at any time we do not win I should move on.

“It is down to belief, the direct consequence of the motivation you put into your next game.

“If your belief is very low, your feeling is very low.

“What I think we can get from our performances is the belief that we have the quality.”

Despite Arsenal’s current predicament – nine points behind league leaders Manchester United, albeit with a game in hand – Wenger still feels that his charges can win the Premier League.

“We are fighting for the championship and I am always sitting in a position where you force me to explain why we fail,” Wenger said.

“For me it’s not a comfortable situation because we are fighting in a period where the most important thing is to have belief in what we do and you keep saying ‘why have you failed to win?’.

“Let’s just play for it first and have a go.

“For me it is important to give absolutely everything until the last game of the season, to be proud, and then, as I have said many times, if there has been somebody better we will have to accept that.

“But at the moment I don’t accept that there is somebody better.”