Walcott has six months remaining on his current deal at Arsenal, meaning he can talk with other clubs during the January transfer window.

The English international's reluctance to extend his stay at Emirates Stadium has seen him linked to Premier League rivals Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, which would be a big blow to Wenger, having already lost Robin van Persie, Alex Song and Cesc Fabregas in recent seasons.

Despite uncertainty surrounding his future, Wenger is hoping to end Arsenal's seven-year trophy drought by building a squad around Walcott and fellow British talents Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs.

"He has become a top player at Arsenal and I hope that when he considers his future he will consider this is the best place for him and he will sign for us," Wenger said.
 
"I do not want to go into details but I will say that our desire is clear and he knows that. Hopefully he can get to a happy end with that.

"I believe that we have a good core of young English players. We couldn't keep the good core of young foreign players.

"But I hope we will be capable of building the team around these English players and for them to achieve something together."

Wenger watched his side outplay Reading 5-2 in Premier League action on Monday to move up to fifth in the table.

Walcott played as Arsenal's main striker, netting the team's fifth goal at the Madejski Stadium, and the French tactician was pleased with his performance.

"I said two years ago I thought he would be playing in the middle eventually," Wenger said.

"I think slowly it's becoming his idea as well. I thought it was good chance to do it tonight and on what I've seen in training I thought he was ready to do it."