Arsene Wenger has confirmed Francis Coquelin has been offered a new contract to stay at Arsenal and is confident the midfielder will commit his future to the club.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in fortune having spent a month on loan at Championship side Charlton before earning a recall and forcing his way into the Gunners’ first team.

Arsenal have won six of the eight matches Coquelin has played since his return and he produced arguably his most impressive performance to date last weekend when anchoring the midfield in a 2-0 win at the home of Premier League champions Manchester City.

Coquelin’s current contract expires in the summer but Wenger this morning said: “We have offered him a new deal. I am confident that it will be done.

“He is a very young player. You look just at what happens on the pitch. Win the ball and make a good pass. In his position that is important.

“I saw that he made huge improvements in training and I explained to him that for me to give him a potential chance, he needed match practice. I could not give him that, I could give him that only if he had played somewhere else before. He took the challenge, he came back and since I have played him he is doing well.”

While Coquelin looks to have played his way into a new deal should he wish to sign, another Arsenal midfielder is facing a decidedly uncertain future.

Abou Diaby’s battle for fitness continues to elude him despite Wenger claiming in December that the Frenchman would be offered a new deal should he prove himself capable of regular first team action.

The 28-year-old has suffered horrendous luck with injuries that have restricted him to just two appearances totalling 83 minutes in the last 21 months with no discernable sign of improvement sufficient to warrant a return to the squad.

Rather ominously, Wenger said: “I will have a decision to make about his contract, yes. He is still injured. At the moment he is not in a position where he will be able to play soon because he is not on the field at all.”

Manchester City v Arsenal - player ratings 13 show all Manchester City v Arsenal - player ratings 1/13 Vincent Kompany: 5 First game for a month and it showed. Left himself liable to be punished when pushing into Monreal for penalty. Made couple of important blocks. 2/13 James Milner: 6 Jack of all trades but master of none? Used as an emergency striker in recent weeks and had forward role here but had little impact on proceedings. GETTY 3/13 Sergio Aguero: First start in six weeks and lack of sharpness painfully clear. Improved a little after break but overall made very fitful impact, needs time to find form again. GETTY 4/13 David Ospina: 6 Colombian kept place ahead and rewarded his manager’s faith with a third clean sheet on the bounce. Good stop from Navas but not tested greatly. Getty 5/13 Hector Bellerin: 7 Replaced the again-injured Mathieu Debuchy and stood up to task well. Did not allow himself to be overawed and diffused threat of pacy Navas. GETTY 6/13 Per Mertesacker: 7 One of his better displays, standing up well to City’s attacks and helping unite a changed Gunners defence. Kept Aguero threat to a minimum. GETTY 7/13 Laurent Koscielny: 7 Entered referee’s book in the early exchanges after steaming into Fernandinho. Or was it Fernando? Made key block on cross intended for Aguero. Getty 8/13 Nacho Monreal: 7 Surprise pick ahead of Gibbs but Wenger’s gamble paid off and then some. Made the most of Kompany’s lunge to win early penalty to set up the victory. 9/13 Francis Coquelin: 8 Frenchman remained disciplined, screening in front of an unfamiliar defence. Also not afraid to ball up his colleagues on occasion. GETTY 10/13 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6 Enjoyed sporadic spells in possession on right as City controlled ball. One cross set up Giroud but let down by poor decision making at times. GETTY 11/13 Santi Cazorla: 8 Continued fine recent form, opening the scoring from the spot for his fifth in nine games. Faded late on but provided cross for Giroud’s clincher. GETTY 12/13 Alexis Sanchez: 7 Made a few penetrating runs and always offered a threat but unable to influence game as much as in recent weeks. Trickery troubled Demichelis. 13/13 BEST OFF BENCH - Tomas Rosicky: 6 Replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain halfway through the second half to provide some extra calmness and solidity as City searched for a way back into the match. Getty 1/13 Vincent Kompany: 5 First game for a month and it showed. Left himself liable to be punished when pushing into Monreal for penalty. Made couple of important blocks. 2/13 James Milner: 6 Jack of all trades but master of none? Used as an emergency striker in recent weeks and had forward role here but had little impact on proceedings. GETTY 3/13 Sergio Aguero: First start in six weeks and lack of sharpness painfully clear. Improved a little after break but overall made very fitful impact, needs time to find form again. GETTY 4/13 David Ospina: 6 Colombian kept place ahead and rewarded his manager’s faith with a third clean sheet on the bounce. Good stop from Navas but not tested greatly. Getty 5/13 Hector Bellerin: 7 Replaced the again-injured Mathieu Debuchy and stood up to task well. Did not allow himself to be overawed and diffused threat of pacy Navas. GETTY 6/13 Per Mertesacker: 7 One of his better displays, standing up well to City’s attacks and helping unite a changed Gunners defence. Kept Aguero threat to a minimum. GETTY 7/13 Laurent Koscielny: 7 Entered referee’s book in the early exchanges after steaming into Fernandinho. Or was it Fernando? Made key block on cross intended for Aguero. Getty 8/13 Nacho Monreal: 7 Surprise pick ahead of Gibbs but Wenger’s gamble paid off and then some. Made the most of Kompany’s lunge to win early penalty to set up the victory. 9/13 Francis Coquelin: 8 Frenchman remained disciplined, screening in front of an unfamiliar defence. Also not afraid to ball up his colleagues on occasion. GETTY 10/13 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6 Enjoyed sporadic spells in possession on right as City controlled ball. One cross set up Giroud but let down by poor decision making at times. GETTY 11/13 Santi Cazorla: 8 Continued fine recent form, opening the scoring from the spot for his fifth in nine games. Faded late on but provided cross for Giroud’s clincher. GETTY 12/13 Alexis Sanchez: 7 Made a few penetrating runs and always offered a threat but unable to influence game as much as in recent weeks. Trickery troubled Demichelis. 13/13 BEST OFF BENCH - Tomas Rosicky: 6 Replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain halfway through the second half to provide some extra calmness and solidity as City searched for a way back into the match. Getty

Hector Bellerin is expected to pass a fitness test to play in Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round clash at Brighton despite an ankle problem but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a major doubt due to an inflammation in his groin.

Danny Welbeck is still sidelined with a thigh problem but Mesut Ozil could make his first start in three months after recently returning from a knee ligament injury.

New signing Krystian Bielik is not in contention as he rebuilds his fitness having joined the club from Legia Warsaw in the midst of Poland’s winter break.

Wenger is wary of the threat Brighton pose and the Championship side confirmed their well-being with a 3-2 victory over promotion-chasing Ipswich at the Amex Stadium last night.

Arsenal faced Brighton at the same stage of the competition two years ago, requiring a late goal from Theo Walcott to earn a 3-2 win and Wenger said: “It’s always difficult in the Championship away from home and we remember Brighton from three years ago.

“I remember that it was a very difficult game against a team who were on the way up - they were fighting at the top level with Gus Poyet. It was a very difficult game. We needed to dig deep to get out with a positive result.”