Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal cannot sell their prized assets to raise funds for new recruits this summer.

The Gunners have been linked to a number of players in recent weeks, most notably to Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.

While the club broke their transfer record to land Nicolas Pepe last summer, that deal was structured over a period of time so that all £72million was not paid in a lump sum.

“So I don’t know. But if you ask me, we cannot be a team that has to sell his best player to try to bring in and improve our squad. That’s for sure.”

Arteta takes his side to Wolves on Saturday looking to maintain their recent upturn in results against one of their rivals for a European place.

While the Spaniard would not be drawn on specific targets to improve his squad whether continental football is achieved or not, he revealed he has the blueprints in his head for the 2020-21 season.

“I cannot talk about interest or players that play for any other team that is not ours,” he added.

“I have a very clear plan and specifications of the players and the positions and the squad balance that we will need to be able to compete with the top teams in the country.”

Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Molineux, although Arteta did concede he has not made a decision on whether to include Mesut Ozil or Matteo Guendouzi in his travelling squad.