Arsene Wenger has said he has no intention of weakening his squad by selling Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud in January.

Wilshere, Walcott and Giroud have all been linked with moves away from the club in January in order to get more playing time.

None of them have started a Premier League game this season, which could hampers their prospects of going to this summer’s World Cup with their respective countries.

Wenger, though, is keen to keep his squad together, especially with so many games to come over the winter period.

“I want to keep the squad. We qualified now for the Europa League knockout phase and that means we do not want to reduce the squad,” Wenger said, as reported by the Daily Star.

“We have the League Cup still we are in it. The FA Cup still to come, the Europa League to come, we have the Premier League where we have a big fight to be in the top four.

“You do not want to become weaker. I have to consider the interest of the player. But dominant of that will be the interests of the club.

“If you can combine the two it is even better but first is what is important for the club.”

Arsenal have at least three more Europa League matches to play as they face BATE Borisov tonight, and have the two-legged round of 32 to look forward to.

On top of that, the Gunners have a Carabao Cup quarter-final to play against West Ham, and the FA Cup third round coming up against Nottingham Forest.

So far, Wenger has played two separate teams in the league and cups, and clearly wants to keep that policy going for the remainder of the season.

However, that might not be ideal for the players who need more first-team football across the board, such as Wilshere and Giroud. January could be a pivotal month for Arsenal’s squad as a result.