Arsenal will put a stop to the club’s damaging practice of allowing the contracts of key players to run down into their final year, the new head of football has said.

Raul Sanllehi, who now leads the footballing side of the club following the departure of chief executive Ivan Gazidis last month, said a player’s contract “should never go the last year, as a policy”.

It has been a long-running and costly issue for Arsenal, who last year allowed star players Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to enter the final six months of their deals. The club subsequently shattered their wage structure to hand Ozil a new contract worth £350,000-a-week, while Sanchez joined Manchester United in January.

Jack Wilshere left the club for free after his contract expired in the summer, and Arsenal are likely to lose Aaron Ramsey in similar circumstances after his offer of a new deal was withdrawn.

“In general, I do believe that a player’s contract should never go to the last year, as a policy,” said Sanllehi in a wide-ranging interview with the Sunday Telegraph. “But I don’t think I am inventing the wheel. Anybody could agree on that. Normally, the contracts of the players are for five years. You need to have a clear idea of what you want to do with that player when he is in the third year, at the latest.”