Arsenal football chief Raul Sanllehi has revisited the decision to withdraw a new contract offer to Aaron Ramsey.
Ramsey's current contract with the club expires at the end of the season, and Arsenal have now withdrawn their final offer to the player.
Sanllehi said: "I would like to avoid talking about personal players. It is more of a gathering of strategies and what our ideas are."
With Ramsey eligible to leave on a free transfer in the summer though, Arsenal could miss out on a fee for the Wales international, unless they can sell him in the next window.
Sanllehi admits this is a scenario the club wish to avoid in future.
He said: "To your particular question on the length of contracts: it is no secret that the sooner you leave out the uncertainty of the length of the contract, the better.
"You should try to avoid always going into the last year of a contract for all reasons – from the club's side and also for the player.
"We try to get clarity earlier, yes. As a normal rule all clubs in the world try not to go into the last year of a contract.
"Then you have clarity over whether you want to sell, renew, send out on loan – all the options over that period."
“I can tell you the plan moving forward, and the idea is not to go to the last year of contracts. Normally we are going to try to avoid that."