Arsene Wenger has promised more English players wearing an Arsenal shirt in the future. With only Justin Hoyte (pictured) and Theo Walcott anywhere near the current Arsenal first eleven, the Frenchman has admitted something needs to be done, and says he's working on it.

"We have less developed English players than young foreign talent," Wenger on Thursday told Arsenal shareholders. "That is down to one basic reason: [England] has produced less talent because it responded later to the quality of the academy system. In the next three or four years we will have developed the top-level domestic talent we have growing at the club."

I hope he keeps that promise. Would be great to see an English Cesc Fabregas or similar emerge at Ashburton Grove in the next few years. But Wenger's track record is mixed.

On the one hand, there's the shoddy treatment he gave to promising English youngsters like Matthew Upson. I can remember Wenger constantly talking about how much he rated young Upson, and how he trusted him in the first team but then selected jokers like Igors Stepanovs ahead of the young English center back, when he probably deserved his chance.

On the other hand... I remember people joking about a young kid named Ashley Cole who was better than roberto carlos (back when the giant thighed left back was any good) because Silvinho was selected ahead of Bobby Carlos in the Brazil team, while Ashley Cole had - temporarily we thought - displaced Silvinho from the Arsenal team. But then Wenger offloaded Silvinho to Celta Vigo and handed Cole the keys to the left back kingdom (makes his recent defection to Chelsea seem all the the more treacherous in hindsight).

So, maybe Wenger really is willing to put faith in English youth, if they're good enough. And if that's the case then whether or not future Arsenal teams contain English talent won't be a judgement on Arsene Wenger, but on the quality of the English youth system.

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