Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits the deadline for an answer from Mathieu Flamini over a new contract is getting close.

"We are getting close to 'yes' or -no'," Wenger said. "He wants to stay and I believe him. But as long as he has not signed, he is free to sign where he wants. We have set ourselves a target at the end of April to finalise the situation, one way or the other.

"April is an absolute deadline because, afterwards, we have to make decisions in the transfer market. My first target is to keep the team together, but we want to continue to respect our wage structure. That is very important. Flamini has to fit in that."