By Chris Wheeler

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Arsene Wenger insists that he still needs Luis Suarez despite Arsenal's impressive victory over Manchester City in Helsinki – and has not ruled out a move for Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo as well.

The Gunners beat their Premier League rivals 3-1 with goals from Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud in what was the final pre-season friendly for both clubs.

Having maintained before the game that he has not been put off by comments from Liverpool owner John Henry that Suarez will not be sold to Arsenal under any circumstances, Wenger insisted that the manner of victory has not altered his views about the size and strength of his squad.

Winner: Arsene Wenger smiles from the dugout in Helsinki where Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-1

Winner: Arsene Wenger smiles from the dugout in Helsinki where Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-1

He is already concerned that he will lose players to injury during this week's international break before Arsenal kick off the Premier League season against Aston Villa on Saturday and then face Fenerbahce in the Champions League in midweek.

Asked once again if he has given up hope of signing Suarez, Wenger said: 'No. We will do it the right way and see what happens.

'I think the problem is the strength of the squad. Today is one game we are going to play 55 games. We are maybe a bit thin squad wise to go through the whole season.

'The players now go on international duty and come back on Thursday so it will be very short time to prepare for our first game on Saturday.

'We have some big games in front of us. We play Aston Villa and then the Champions League after that so it's important we don't lose players now.'

Wenger added that 'there is nothing concrete at the moment' when asked about speculation Arsenal have lined up a 14million deal for Gustavo, but did not dismiss suggestions that it may happen.

The 26-year-old midfielder is said to be surplus to requirements at Munich following the arrival of Thiago Alcantara and has also attracted interest from Chelsea and Wolfsburg.

The Arsenal boss confirmed that it was a planned move to take off Jack Wilshere at half-time against City. The midfielder, who has only played twice for England in two years since injuring his ankle against Switzerland in 2011, is set to play against Scotland on Wednesday.

Wanted man: Luis Suarez is Arsenal's top target but Liverpool don't want to sell him

Wanted man: Luis Suarez is Arsenal's top target but Liverpool don't want to sell him

And Wenger was delighted with the performance of his players as they beat one of their main rivals in front of a sell-out crowd in Helsinki's Olympic Stadium.

'I'm happy because it was a game of good intensity with two teams who were really putting effort in,' he said. 'We have some points to work on but it was positive tactically and attitude wise. We scored goals, created chances and were highly focussed.

'I don't know how much confidence it will give the players but it will certainly lift our confidence. There's a good attitude with all the players.'

City's late consolation goal came from Alvaro Negredo but manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted that he has some issues to iron out before they face Newcastle a week on Monday.

Defensively, City looked shaky and Pellegrini still hopes to bring in a new centre-back with Matija Nastasic out of action until next month with an ankle injury.

'We'll see next week if I can bring in the player we need,' he said. 'If not we have in our squad the way to resolve that problem. We had some problems defensively and we will work on that.

'It wasn't the best way to finish pre-season. I'm always concerned when we're losing 3-0 but we just a lost a game in pre-season, we didn't lose three points and that's important for me.

Issues: Alvaro Negredo scored but Man City have some bugs to iron out

Issues: Alvaro Negredo scored but Man City have some bugs to iron out

'But the score didn't reflect what happened during the match. We had chances but didn't score. Arsenal had three or four chances in the whole match and scored three.

'It was the pre-season I thought we would have. We are changing a lot of things, we're starting a new cycle with a different style of players. It's normal that the team will make mistakes.

'That's three wins and four defeats but hopefully in the next week we will play the way I want them to play.

'Of course the expectation is too much and that's a good thing. We all have expectations and are hopeful for the new season.

'When you make a lot of changes you need time but I'm sure we will improve the little things we have to in the next 10 days.'

The comments below have not been moderated.

I have never seen Mr Scrooge this desperate for a player. Wonder why he must be the best striker in the EPL

@ Rafa's the God- how are Henry and Rogers crossing the limit? They are showing more class then Wenger by making a stand against player power and selling to a team that they want to compete against. Btw Wenger has commented with his remarks that show they are maintaining hope and interest. With you guys and RVP you didn't hold any cards as it was his final year and it was either sell and make money or keep Him and lose him for nothing. Point is LFC will sell Suarez at some point but it won't be to Arsenal. I may no nothing but I know that.

Anyway I'm buying my replica Suarez (Arsenal) shirt already !!! So to all you LFC fans - shut up about this already!!!

Come the 2nd of September Luis Suarez will still be a Liverpool player. - Zardoz, St. Ives, United Kingdom, 11/08/2013 01:24=============================== Good Luck to you then!

Tampering is tampering. Arsenal should be investigated and sanctioned and punished. They are a danger to pro sports and the BPL.

Wenger is simply using the Suarez angle as his excuse for doing zero transfer business. Gooners will be upset, but that will be the excuse for not spending.

I am extremely disappointed in Mr Arsene Wenger. I have always had a lot of respect for him but with the constant references to Luis Suarez he is crossing limits. He is a lFC player and with his constant comments he is destabilising a club and player. Arsenal have made 2 bids both rejected and the LFC owner has told anyone and everyone that this player is contracted for another 3 years and is not for sale. This should be the end. I'm sure that if another club was to do the same for an Arsenal player they didn't want to sell the Mr Wenger would be running to the FA crying foul play!!! - Faz, Somewhere, 11/08/2013 00:48 My friend, it was happened to wenger with RVP but he didn't say anything bad about UTD and that wasn't the only time. It doesn't matter if you respect him or not he's our manager. It's Rodgers and Henry who's crossing the limits. You have no idea what you're talking about, do u? Wenger has been refusing to comment on Suarez since the beginning.

talk bout not getting the message. no wonders he,s won nothing recently. he doesn't learn

Liverpool thought they won the suarez transfer saga but actually they lost. Arsenal have actually caused severe damage to Liverpool from inside and they might not be in the competition with europe since they are not stable from within. Selling or not selling, they still lost. Mistake from Brenden to publically announced the interest.

Maybe we'll have to wait until January to buy Suarez, by then we can probably reduce our bid by 40 million since Liverpool will probably just be happy to get him off the wage bill. I suppose one of these days Henry and Rodgers will appear in front of the media covered in bite marks. I'll be honest I've yet to hear a convincing reason for keeping Suarez, other than to thwart the players personal ambitions and to prevent strengthening Arsenal - and I'm not sure how this last point benefits Liverpool, it benefits the teams above Arsenal, and of course,Spurs. Certainly Suarez will not be the player he was for Liverpool last season.

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