Put a lid on it, Bentley, says angry Wenger

Bentley believes Walcott, who will miss Sunday's Premier League clash at Wigan with a thigh injury, should consider his options, and said: 'Sometimes you need football, you need games to become better and to put your skills out on the football pitch.

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'If he is not getting minutes at Arsenal, he will have to look elsewhere. Your career doesn't start and end at Arsenal. It can flourish somewhere else.'

But Gunners manager Wenger, who sold Bentley to Blackburn in January 2006 after he failed to make an impact at Arsenal, was not impressed by the remarks about a player still under his charge at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger said: 'I don't give much importance to his opinion. Bentley is entitled to his opinions but it doesn't mean he is right.

'I don't know why one player should incite another to leave his club. It's not his job and I don't know why he would do it.

'When you're at one of the biggest clubs in the world you have to accept competition. If you accept it, competition makes you better. If you move down, you're not at the top.'

Arsenal fans would argue Bentley took a step down when he moved to Ewood Park, but he has flourished under the astute management of Blackburn manager Mark Hughes and established himself in the England squad.

Bentley said: 'At the end of the day, you want to make a career for yourself. If you want to make a career for yourself, you can't afford to stay at a club where you might be 24 or 25 with 30 games under your belt.'

Bentley made just one Premier League appearance for Arsenal, but Walcott has already played 28 times this season.

Wenger said: 'People forget Theo is young. At 18, it is difficult to play for one of the world's biggest clubs regularly.

'At the moment, he has one big quality — when he comes on, he makes a big impact. He's not there completely when he starts, but it is transitional. Soon he will have exactly the same impact when he starts.

'I signed Nicolas Anelka when he was 17-and-a-half and for the first four months he looked completely behind the team. Within another two months he was in front of Ian Wright.'

Wenger's faith in his young side is beginning to pay off and Arsenal chief executive Keith Edelman has admitted that expectations are high.

Edelman, speaking at the club's 'topping out' ceremony for the flats at the old Highbury stadium, said: 'Arsene's developing a great squad of players and they are performing ahead of everyone's expectations. I remember when Adebayor first played for us and I got five letters of complaint asking: "What have you bought him for?"

'The skill of Arsene Wenger is to see what talents the players have and how he can develop them. He is a unique manager.'