Wenger still in the hunt

Wenger still in the hunt

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Arsene Wenger has vowed to continue bolstering his Arsenal squad this summer but insists a rebuild is not necessary.

The Frenchman signed Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen from Dutch giants Ajax for an undisclosed fee last week as the Emirates board continue to put faith in his abilities in the transfer market.

The loss of star players Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini last summer severely damaged the flow of Wenger's team last season as Arsenal struggled for form early on following the loss of key midfielders.

After making a rare impact signing in Andrey Arshavin in January, which sparked the Gunners' Premier League season into life, many expected Wenger to chase up more superstar signings in a bid to make a title push next term.

However, the 59-year-old has other ideas and insists the side's fine end-of-season run suggests the rebuild is almost complete.

"We lost Hleb and Flamini last summer and we have had to rebuild. But we have done that now and the future looks bright," Wenger told theMirror.

"We don't want to have to rebuild again so I want to keep all the players together for next season. I don't want to lose anyone.

"I want to add to the squad and I have identified one or two targets. But identifying players and buying them are two different things.

"Ideally I would like to bring everybody in before we start back in pre-season training in July. I don't want to leave it until the end of August.

"We are at a stage were we need to convince people that this team does a lot of things right. It does not need to be transformed.

"When you go on a long unbeaten run in the Premier League and reach two semi-finals, common sense should tell you that.

"We have to take encouragement from what we have done in the season just gone.