Gunners expect Fabregas future

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis believes Cesc Fabregas remains committed to the cause at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners captain recently announced that he was flattered by reported interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid and former club Barcelona.

It has been speculated that Fabregas - who is expected to return from a long-term knee injury against Manchester City on Saturday - could quit Arsenal in the summer.

But Gazidis does not expect the Spain international to head a mass departure from North London, with Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie both in contract talks.

Gazidis said: "I can't marry the stories that I read with the reality, which is that Cesc is extremely happy at Arsenal and totally committed to the club, and that's every message that (manager) Arsene Wenger or I have ever received from him or his representatives.

"I am very confident that Cesc is committed to the club. You never relax about any situation but we are very confident that this team will stay together, progress together and achieve success together.

"The young players that we have and the manager we have believe we are doing something very special here."

Gazidis also claims the club can compete with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in terms of wages.

He added: "Arsenal offers good money, it offers a great development programme, a superb environment so it is difficult for me to imagine why players would want to leave.

"I can't guarantee success because success depends on those very players but am I confident that I can keep those players and we can make progress. Absolutely, very confident.

"It's not good enough for us to be in fourth place, we have to be competing for the Premier League title.

"I think there are a variety of reasons we are in fourth place but it's not the level of our ambition - not the level of Arsene Wenger's, the board's or my ambition.

"Arsene believes he is developing a superb team of young players who can compete for the Premier League for many years to come."

Gazidis also gave his backing to Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire who raised his stake in Arsenal to just over 20 per cent on Monday.

"He is an excellent owner in the other sports he has been involved in, he has been a good part owner of Arsenal and an active participant on the board," he said.

"He is a long-term investor who thinks about the sports business very carefully and philosophically is very close to the traditional Arsenal ethos.

"He believes in the club running itself on a self-sustaining basis and he obviously must have affection for the club otherwise we wouldn't see his shareholding increase."