Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told Theo Walcott he wants to build a squad of English players around him after the forward scored in the 5-2 win at Reading on Monday night.

Wenger also hinted the club can finally afford to pay the wages demanded by star players after seasons of seeing them leave for rivals at home and abroad.

As it stands, Walcott will be able to leave on a free transfer in the summer and would join a lengthy list of high-profile ex-Gunners that includes Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

His England colleague Jack Wilshere has promised that he will soon sign a new five-year contract but so far Walcott has proved reluctant to follow suit.

Wenger made it clear he had not given up on the 23-year-old.

“He has become a top player at Arsenal and I hope that when he considers his future he will consider that this is the best place for him,” he said.

“I do not want to go into details but I will say that our desire is clear and he knows that. Hopefully, he can get to a happy end with that.

“I believe that we have a good core of young English players. We couldn’t keep the good core of young foreign players but I hope we will be capable of building the team around these English players and for them to achieve something together.”

Wenger also shed light on the club’s ability to pay top-bracket wages following the move to the Emirates Stadium six years ago.

“We have gone through a period where we had restricted potential financially when we moved into the new stadium,” he said.

“We have got over that period and hopefully now we can be a bit more convincing.”