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LONDON. – Arsene Wenger has revealed Arsenal are working to get several key players tied down to new deals at the Emirates Stadium. Wenger has revealed TEN Arsenal stars are set to be out of contract in 18 months’ time as he insisted no player was bigger than the club. The futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are currently dominating the agenda at the north London club, but the likes of influential midfielder Santi Cazorla, England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and last season’s top scorer Olivier Giroud are equally uncertain.Negotiations are underway to extend the contracts of the club’s two star players, Ozil and Sanchez, while Wenger also confirmed talks have commenced with Cazorla and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Contract extensions for both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have dominated the back pages this week, with reports the pair are seeking parity with the highest-paid players in the English Premier League.

Wenger said on Thursday morning that he will not allow the pair to leave Arsenal even if they do not sign fresh contracts, opening up the possibility that the two most expensive signings in the club’s history could leave for free.

But, as well as Ozil and Sanchez, there are a host of other big names who are yet to sign new terms with the Gunners.

Kieran Gibbs, Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mathieu Debuchy and Jack Wilshere all have a year-and-a-half left on their current contracts.

Wojiech Szczesny and Jack Wilshere, currently on loan at Roma and Bournemouth, as well as full-backs Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy could also be free agents in 18 months’ time.

And Wenger said it is normal to be in such a situation before announcing talks had opened with a number of those players whose contract ends are in sight.

“There are six or seven cases at the moment but that is the usual case, it is every year like that,” he said.

“That explains to you why we have a lot of work to do but you are only interested in two cases (Sanchez and Ozil).”

A number of names were then put to Wenger, starting with Giroud, and the Frenchman said of his compatriot: “We work as well on Giroud.”

He also confirmed talks had opened with Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has impressed in recent weeks, especially in the 5-1 thrashing of West Ham last Saturday.

Wenger said last month he will also look to talk to Wilshere, currently on loan at Bournemouth, in the New Year.

Injured duo Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla have just over six months remaining on their deals, although Arsenal have the option to take up another one-year extension with both players. Mertesacker is back training following a serious knee injury in pre-season while Cazorla has just undergone surgery on an injured Achilles. – Sky Sports.