Arsene: I will hang on to stars

Reyes, in the absence of the injured Henry, is a potential starter in tomorrow's cup quarter-final at Bolton. A definite in the line-up is 20-year-old central defender Philippe Senderos. He was outstanding against Bayern and Wenger said: "I believe in him. Another Tony Adams? You have to be careful because Philippe has played only three or four games while Tony played, what, 600?

"The only thing to say is that Tony is a good example to follow. Philippe has a lot of the style of Tony, he has that gritty determination."

A season that promised so much for Arsenal now has only the FA Cup left as a realistic target.

Arsenal's cup clash at Bolton must be won otherwise Arsenal are left with the prospect of finishing the season without a trophy.

Predictably, the rumblings of unrest will start. In addition to today's speculation over Henry and Vieira, there is still a question mark over the future of Ashley Cole, the target of Chelsea who is in the last two years of his contract and yet to agree a new one.

The Emirates Stadium at Ashburton Grove has been blamed. Such projects do not come cheap in north London and around £350m will be spent on it by the time it opens in August next year.

The Arsenal hierarchy has insisted all along that Wenger's budget would not be affected. But with such a huge outlay, there had to be an impact on Wenger's spending and he conceded today: "It has a bit, yes,"

And Henry also thinks it has had an impact. He told Standard Sport yesterday how Arsenal's spending during the summer and winter put them behind clubs such as Tottenham and even Birmingham.

"We have to squeeze our teeth for the new stadium," he said.

What is evident is that both Henry and Vieira want the squad embellished with new players. Both have two years left on their respective contractsand an extension may be out of the question should Wenger not be given the money he needs.

Clearly, Wenger has a wish list and he said: "We have the financial potential to do whatever we want to do."

So who is on that list? Senagalese goalkeeper Tony Sylva, of Lille, has had an outstanding season and Ghanaian Michael Essien of Lyon has been the subject of rave reports from Arsenal's French scout Gilles Grimandi.

But where Henry and Vieira are concerned, this week's Champions League results could work in their favour.

Barcelona have long cast envious eyes at Henry who they see as the dream partner for Ronaldinho. But l i ke Arsenal's Frenchman, Barcelona's Brazilian will be a spectator rather than a participant for the rest of the competition. The same goes for Real Madrid's Galacticos.

They may still want Vieira and the Champions League will no longer provide a distraction if they aim to move in for the Arsenal captain. Like Arsenal, they are out.