Arsenal kickstart their Premier League campaign this evening against Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium but there’s still work to be done behind the scenes, as Arsene Wenger battles to keep his star players in North London.

The futures of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have caught the headlines on numerous occasions this summer as the trio enter the final 12 months of their deals, potentially meaning that Arsenal will lose these assets on a free transfer next summer.

Wenger is understandably desperate to keep the three big names within his sides grasp and it means that Arsenal must finally buckle and move into the modern age with their wage structure, which will be a massive change for the club.

The French manager hasn’t hidden his belief in the past that the manager should be the highest paid man at the club but he’ll need to change his views if the key-members of the squad are to remain, particularly with Alexis and Mesut Ozil.

The indications from Arsenal seem to be good as The Daily Mail report today that the Gunners are prepared to make Alexis the highest paid player in the Premier League on £300k-a-week, whilst The Sun states Wenger’s side are confident Ozil will agree to a new £225k-a-week deal.

Those figures would significantly increase Arsenal’s wage expenditure, rising by a whopping £27.3m-a-year, but it’s a move that the Gunners have to take if they are to remain competitive at the top and kick forward towards potential Premier League glory.

The rise of transfer fees over the course of the past few years have shown that Arsenal will have to pay remarkable sums if they are to find replacements for Ozil and Alexis on the transfer market, with the prices potentially even breaking the £100m mark.

Landing top-class players for around £40-50m, like Arsenal did with Ozil, Alexis and Alexandre Lacazette, is now a task that seems to be almost impossible and the Gunners need to take these things into consideration when negotiating new deals.

It would surely be more beneficial for Arsenal to increase their annual wage expenditure by around £30m-a-year rather than splash record-breaking sums in the transfer market, particularly as the aforementioned players have already proven their worth in the Premier League.