Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Francis Coquelin and Chuba Akpom have signed new long-term contracts with the club.

France under-21 international Coquelin has won praise for his performances since returning to Arsenal in December from a loan spell at Charlton Athletic.

The 23-year-old, who joined the Gunners from French side Laval in 2008, has featured 54 times in all competitions and was a key member of the 2009 FA Youth Cup-winning side.

Akpom joined the Arsenal academy in 2002 and made his first-team debut in the 3-1 Premier League victory at Sunderland in September 2013.

He has featured five times for the Gunners this season, impressing in back-to-back appearances against Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa, and has nine goals in 10 games for the under-21s.

“I am very happy because for me the target during this transfer window was on two fronts,” Wenger said on Friday. “The first was to get a defender in and we did that.

“The second was also to extend the contracts of Coquelin and Akpom. That's what I did as well so we are very happy with what we did.”