Tomas Rosicky: Has one year remaining on his current contract

The Czech Republic international, who has one year remaining on his current contract, had been linked with a return to former club Sparta Prague.

But Rosicky, who joined the Gunners seven years ago from Borussia Dortmund, held talks with manager Arsene Wenger at the end of the season and expects to remain in north London.

"After the season I spoke with the coach and Arsenal want me to stay. Of course, you never know what can happen, but I should be staying. A return to Sparta Prague? No, not yet," Rosicky told fotbal.idnes.cz.

"I have one year left on my contract and know nothing about me not staying. The coach has told me he counts on me."

Rosicky, who has endured numerous injuries during his time with Arsenal, made just 16 appearances this season as the Gunners secured fourth place in the Premier League courtesy of their final day victory over Newcastle.

After seeing several key men depart in previous years, Rosicky is confident that Wenger will be able to retain his star players and strengthen in the transfer market.

He said: "Looking back at how badly we started, we have to be satisfied. We were chasing it at the 11th hour. Naturally, we all would prefer to have finished higher, but it's good that we have salvaged at least the fourth spot.

"The league table does not lie. As it is, I think it's fair. We are a club which loses one or two important players each summer, so we have to replace someone each time and that's always difficult.

"It seems as if nobody is leaving and, on the other hand, that some players could join Arsenal. It would help us a lot."

Criticism

Wenger came in for criticism from a section of the club's fans after an eighth campaign without any silverware and an embarrassing Capital One Cup defeat by Bradford.

But Rosicky believes the manager remains the right man for the job, particularly after they came so close to overcoming eventual winners Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.

He added: "If you're on a bad run, the manager is always the first to blame. But he showed that he still has a lot to give to this team. We were playing some fine football.

"If you made a table just from January till the end of the season, we would have finished 2nd behind Manchester United. So it would be a shame to change anything.

"When you look at what all Bayern achieved in the season, it hurts even more that we had not knocked them out. We were eliminated on the away goals rule, otherwise it was 3-3. It was one of the moments that inspired us.

"We are able to win at Bayern but then, however, to get knocked out of the cup by Bradford. That's killing us."