Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood admits wages are a problem for his club.

Hill-Wood admitted that Arsenal have a constant problem trying to persuade their top players to stay.

"We know it is there and you have just got to face it," he said. "But we have got a limit to how much we are going to pay these boys.

"And if some agent is prepared to come in and upset the player and try to move him on for a lot more money there is nothing much we can do.

"You can't have a limit on what people are prepared to pay somebody.

"What you have got to do is not lose your own head and pay what you think you can afford.

"And if a player doesn't accept that, so be it."