My top Gunners will stay and help us reach the promised land, predicts confident Wenger

Despite finishing without a trophy for the third consecutive season, the quality of Arsenal's young team is acknowledged throughout Europe and, is attracting the interest of clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan.

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Wenger knows that young players like Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini already figure prominently on the wish-lists of many of Arsenal's Champions League rivals.

"Joining clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona carries no guarantee of winning trophies," said the Arsenal coach.

"We were so close this season that it would be criminal not to believe that we will soon be winning trophies. The experience of this season should simply confirm the belief that we can win the title again.

"We have lost only three games this season so we are not far from the level of consistency we had when we were unbeaten. That's why I'm so insistent that if this young team stays together it can have a great future."

Wenger is convinced his players can match the achievement of "The Invincibles", the last Arsenal team to win the Premier League in 2003-04.

With players like Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell, Gilberto Silva and Dennis Bergkamp, that team were vastly more experienced than Wenger's current crop of youngsters who, having established a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League, found it difficult to cope with the demands of chasing more than one trophy.

The last 14 matches, the leanest period of Wenger's 12 years at the club, have produced just three wins, the latest coming on Saturday when they rediscovered their touch and confidence with a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Reading. After the double disappointment of slipping out of the title race and Champions League, this victory went some way to re-establishing the feel good factor at Emirates Stadium.

Theo Walcott celebrated a rare first team start with an exhilarating performance which could win him a run in the side in the final three games — against Derby, Everton and Sunderland.

At 19, Walcott is a player who gives Wenger — and England head coach Fabio Capello — hope for the future.

Gilberto, a goalscorer along with Emmanuel Adebayor on Saturday, said of Walcott: "He can be one of the best players in England but people need to be patient and give him time. He's got amazing pace and ability and the more he works the better he'll get."

Although Wenger is determined to keep his team together, 31-year-old Gilberto could be allowed to leave.

He has only a year to run on his contract and AC Milan and Juventus might tempt him to finish his career in Italy. His first-team opportunities this season have been limited and he said: "It's been frustrating but I respect the manager's viewpoint and I always do all I can to help the team," he said.

"I really want to stay but I'll sit down with the boss and talk to him about my prospects at the end of the season."