Kolo Touré will complete an eye-catching transformation this afternoon when he captains Arsenal against Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium. The Ivory Coast defender handed in a transfer request two weeks ago after an argument with William Gallas during a training session, but Arsène Wenger, the manager, has decided that Touré will become the seventh Arsenal captain of the season after he withdrew his request.

“He’s the longest-serving player at the club,” Wenger said. “I rate him and I like him. I never have any problem with him.” Touré is said to have asked to leave after he became convinced that Gallas had told Wenger that the two centre backs could not form an effective partnership in the heart of the Arsenal defence. Manchester City were keen to sign him for about £10 million — Arsenal have received inquiries for several players but no offers — but Wenger does not want to sell. “I don’t think we have ever sold in January,” he said.

One player who is likely to arrive at the club this month is Andrei Arshavin, although Wenger has warned Zenit St Petersburg that he will not be held to ransom by the Russian club. Arshavin wants to move to London, but Zenit are asking for £20 million for the Russia playmaker and Wenger is not prepared to pay more than £12 million. “I cannot spend money we do not have,” Wenger said. “You have a club, Zenit, with big financial power and a club who does not have unlimited resources to buy, so that should put the price down.”

According to Wenger, the global economic downturn has helped to shift the balance of power in the transfer market from sellers to buyers.

“Today on the international market England has lost 40 per cent of its financial potential just because the pound has collapsed completely and is down to the level of the euro,” he said. “It is very difficult at the moment to plan and to budget for the future.”

Thanks to prudent financial management, Arsenal are well positioned to ride out the downturn and Wenger is quietly confident that he will have signed at least one midfield player before the transfer window closes next month. Shay Given, the Newcastle United goalkeeper, is not a target and Matthew Upson will not be returning after the manager claimed that he was not interested in buying defenders.

“I am under pressure to talk about players that maybe I am not capable of buying,” he said. “The first priority is to keep the players that we have here.”