The big African, 24, has this season gone some way to filling the boots of legendary forward Thierry Henry, who hit the personal milestone for five seasons in a row from 2001/02.

However, despite finding the net for an impressive streak of nine consecutive games earlier in the campaign, Adebayor lost his magic touch as the Gunners bid for Barclays Premier League and European glory faded.

Wenger is in no doubt there is more to come from the frontman, but only if his strict "work ethic" continues.

"Emmanuel took his tally to 30 for the season with a hat-trick at Derby, but there is some room for him to improve - and that makes me very positive," said the Arsenal manager.

"I believe he has to keep a good working attitude.

"We have seen players before, when they start getting the recognition, they ease off in their team work, and very quickly they die.

"I believe if Ade keeps his work ethic, there is still 20% more to come from him. Does he want it enough - to get this extra 20% out? Well that is where his future lies. If you lose that desire, you quickly become a nobody."

Wenger continued: "He was never prolific at Monaco, but he has worked hard for it at Arsenal and it highlights that our offensive game favours the strikers.

"You will never starve as a striker at Arsenal - you get the quality balls to work with. Ade will be the first to agree with that."

Despite a rather flat ending to a campaign which had promised so much, Wenger - whose side last won the title in 2004 - maintains there is genuine hope silverware can be delivered next year.

"I believe our quality of the season overall has been absolutely outstanding, but because we have ended up without any trophies, people are naturally very negative," he said.

"We have to take a distance from that, and say that we have produced quality and we have produced consistency.

"We know we need to improve our killer instinct, but keep believing in this team because it is very special."

One player, though, who appeared not to share that vision of the future was midfielder Mathieu Flamini.

The 24-year-old was out of contract in the summer and turned down the offer of a new deal, understood to be worth £55,000-a-week, to instead join AC Milan - although as yet there has not been official confirmation of the move by the English club.

Wenger has, though, long maintained he only wanted men in his squad who bought in to the Arsenal ideal, rather than it all just being about wages.

The Gunners boss, however, could yet find himself having to convince winger Alexander Hleb to stay rather than buying out the remainder of his contract and switch to Inter.

The future of midfielder Cesc Fabregas, meanwhile, always crops up during the transfer window.

Although tied to Arsenal on a long-term deal and despite the Spaniard saying he was happy at Emirates Stadium, reports linking the 21-year-old with a return to Spain continue.

Wenger has already been left less than impressed by comments from the two Milan clubs concerning his players - and now Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has spoken out of his admiration for Fabregas.

"Every coach likes him (Fabregas), but my policy is that it has to be the player who makes the first step for the signing because we don't want conflicts with any team," said Calderon, whose club have won the Spanish league title.

"Something nice about Cesc is that he is Spanish and this is one of my objectives - to make Real Madrid more Spanish."

Wenger, meanwhile, continues to conduct his transfer business in private, but did reveal after Sunday's 1-0 win over Everton he always had "options" in mind should things not go to plan over keeping hold of his own men.

Lille's Cameroon midfielder Jean Makoun and £12million-rated Lyon winger Hatem Ben are said to be on Wenger's summer shopping list, while veteran Gennaro Gattuso, of Milan, is another linked with a move to north London.

However, one former Gunner who is not likely to be returning 'home' is Henry, despite a season of relative underachievement at Barcelona.

"As for my future, no, I do not want to leave," Henry told Le Parisien.

Arsenal later did confirm Flamini would be going to Italy this summer.

A statement from the club read: "Arsenal can confirm that Mathieu Flamini will join Italian Serie A side AC Milan on July 1, 2008 on a free transfer.

"Everyone at Arsenal Football Club wishes Mathieu the best of luck for the future."