Arsene Wenger wants Joel Campbell to stay in Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he wants to keep Joel Campbell at the club beyond the end of the transfer window.

The Costa Rican has been heavily linked with a permanent transfer out of north London but Wenger has revealed that he would be pleased if the player decided to extend his stay with the Gunners.

Campbell had a successful loan spell at Villareal last season but is wary about the time afforded to him in an Arsenal shirt, prompting him to seek a move abroad to increase his chances of first-team football.

The Gunners have a host of players out wide and who can play through the middle, in the form of Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with Aaron Ramsey also being deployed on the right this season.

The manager confirmed that he did not have any plans to let the 23-year-old leave but said he would have a talk with him over his future.

"At the moment he is here and personally I would like to keep him," Wenger told Arsenal's official website.

"I will have to sit down with Joel because I rate him highly as a player and personally if he stays here I am very happy," he added.

Wenger confirmed that the Gunners were not close to signing anyone this window, having made only one first-team addition thus far in the form of Petr Cech. The manager added that he was not looking to make signings to make people happy, but more to strengthen his squad.

"I'm always more focused on developing the team, the players we have and getting everyone on board that we have at the club. We want to develop players as well rather than over-thinking whether to buy. I'm not against buying when it is a plus for your team," Wenger said.

"If it's just to buy a player at the level of the players that you have to make people happy, I'm not ready for that. If it's somebody who brings something that you don't already have in the squad, then of course you want to do that," he said.