Wenger is losing his fight to keep Toure

West Ham centre-back Matthew Upson is understood to top the Gunners list and although the Hammers insist the 29-year-old will not leave, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is thought to be pondering a move for his former player if Toure insists his future lies away from north London.

Wenger believed he had talked the Ivory Coast international into staying after he handed in a transfer request last month, but Standard Sport understands Toure has become disillusioned after appearing to fall behind Johan Djourou and Mikael Silvestre in the pecking order at the heart of Arsenal's defence.

Manchester City are set to test Arsenal's resolve with a fresh bid in the region of £10million for the 27-year-old, who is thought to have fallen out with fellow centre-half William Gallas in recent months.

Wenger had vowed Toure would not leave Arsenal this month but the Frenchman has historically been reluctant to stand in a player's way should they express a persistent desire to leave. There has been some good news for Arsenal, though, as teenage starlet Jack Wilshere has signed a three-year contract with the Gunners after turning 17 and becoming eligible for a professional contract.

The attacking midfielder is a product of the club's Academy system and Wenger has high hopes for the player, who made his first-team debut in the Champions League defeat in Porto last month.

The manager said: "We are delighted Jack has signed. He is a player with great potential, with an ability to find the final ball and also score goals. Jack is a passionate and committed young player. He is not afraid of tackles and I am convinced he will have tremendous penetrative power in a few years. We look forward to Jack being an important part of our first team for years to come."

Meanwhile, captain Cesc Fabregas has targeted a potential FA Cup semi-final if Arsenal reach the latter stages of the competition.

The Spaniard is expected to be out for around four months after suffering medial knee ligament damage in last month's 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

And the 21-year-old said: "The FA Cup is the first and only trophy that I have won here, so I really hope that when I come back we can be ready to play in a semi-final and then walk out at Wembley on 30 May.

"But we will have to work hard and not take anything for granted if we want to get there.

"The FA Cup is a very prestigious tournament, one that everybody here wants to win and that's what we will be trying to do.

"As far as I am concerned, we're always giving everything in this competition for ourselves, for fans and the club.

"Maybe we took our eye off it a bit last year because we were in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup as well as everything else so we had a lot of options, but we are fighting strongly on other fronts this time around too and I'm sure we won't have the same outcome."