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Arsenal will re-open contract talks with boss Arsene Wenger.

And Wenger has £40million to spend in the January transfer window that could go on a top-class striker.

Having smashed the club's transfer record to sign Mesut Ozil for £42.4m last week, Arsenal's priority is to now secure the future of Wenger.

The Frenchman's deal expires at the end of this season and talks over a new contract were shelved while the Ozil signing was secured.

Arsenal fan groups had released statements calling for 63-year-old Wenger’s contract to be put on the back burner after the opening-day defeat against Aston Villa.

But owner Stan Kroenke and chief executive Ivan Gazidis have taken the Ozil signing as further proof that Wenger deserves a new deal.

Ozil made it clear that Wenger, and the phone call between the pair, was the principle reason that he opted to leave Real Madrid for Arsenal.

Jack Wilshere has also recently claimed that he could reassess his Arsenal future if Wenger left.

Arsenal chiefs have taken Wenger’s determination to personally push through the Ozil transfer as encouragement that the Frenchman is not thinking of leaving and are hopeful of clinching an agreement.

Having only spent half his transfer budget for this season, Wenger still has £40m at his disposal that he can spend in January if he so wishes.

Wenger failed with bids for Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney this summer, and saw Chelsea pull the plug on his bid to take Demba Ba on loan.

Arsenal will keep an eye on several strikers until January in readiness to make a move.