Arsene Wenger has said that his priority this summer will be ensuring that players such as Cesc Fàbregas, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini stay at Arsenal, before the manager looks to add experience to his squad.

The North London club have faltered over the past two months as their Barclays Premier League and Champions League hopes ended in bitter disappointment and attention has turned to what is required to improve the team next season.

Wenger, though, does not believe that he needs many alterations to his young squad, but he has conceded that his players lack experience. The manager is more concerned, however, with securing the futures of players such as Hleb, who will miss the rest of the season after accepting a charge yesterday of violent conduct from the FA that carries a three-match suspension, Fàbregas, the highly rated Spain midfield player, and Flamini, the France midfield player whose contract at Arsenal expires in the summer.

“There is money there [for transfers], but not as much as I read in the newspapers because that is not true,” Wenger said. “However, with my financial package the first thing I have to make sure is we keep the players we have at the moment. That is what people forget.

“The new rules put you under threat to lose your best players because after three years any player can walk out and after two any player over 28. So the rules and the structure of the wages bill is always under threat. My first target of the summer is to make sure what we have here stays here and after, if there is still money available, to buy players.”

Hleb has been one of Arsenal's most consistent performers and has been linked with a move to the Continent this summer, with Inter Milan said to be keen on him. However, the 26-year-old will get no further chances to impress this season after the FA sanction, which was handed down after a review of television evidence, ruled him out of the matches against Derby County, Everton and Sunderland. Hleb was involved in an off-the-ball clash with Graeme Murty, the Reading captain, during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Wenger is reported to be interested in a number of potential transfer targets, including Amauri, the Palermo striker, Hatem Ben Arfa, the Lyons winger, and David Villa, the Valencia forward. “Who we will buy in the summer is not decided yet, but I have players in mind,” Wenger said. “We have lists which we keep up to date, player number one, two, three or four in the positions we are looking for - and you go for the No1.

“I believe at some stage you need to strengthen the team, but changing the team means kick some players out and replacing them. That is not the feeling I have. I feel this team has been absolutely tremendous.”