Arsenal legend Tony Adams has slammed the club’s current problems with keeping their best players, saying things were run more smoothly when he was still playing.

The former Gunners captain won four league titles in his time at Highbury, and he doesn’t believe the glory days will return to the club until they manage to keep hold of their stars.

One thing that has shocked Adams, is that key players’ contracts are continually running into their last year, meaning Arsenal are forced into a situation where they have to sell them or risk losing them for free.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said:

“You need to keep your best players and in recent years we’ve let them go a bit easy.

“I never got anywhere near the last year of my contract. You don’t let them go into their last year and run their contract down.

“It’s about winning, and how do you win? You have the best players, and if you keep selling your best players you’re not going to win. If you sell your best players you’re not going to challenge for titles.”

In recent seasons, Arsenal have lost Mathieu Flamini, William Gallas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie due to not renewing their contracts. They now face a similar situation with Theo Walcott, who is free to talk to other clubs in January.

Follow me on Twitter @markbrus