France striker and Arsenal captain Thierry Henry says he will decide his club-future before the World Cup kicks off on June 9, with his club manager Arsene Wenger saying he will not rush the striker into making a decision.

Arsenal are desperate to confirm a new long-term contract with the French striker, with constant speculation linking the 28-year-old with a move to the Spanish Primera Liga, either with Barcelona or Real Madrid.

As yet, however, the Arsenal skipper has not put pen to paper on a contract extension, and time is running out for the Gunners board, with his current deal running out at the end of next season.

“At the end of the season we are going to have to take a decision. It will be done before the World Cup, that's for sure,” Henry told Arsenal TV Online.

For the moment, Henry say’s he is focused on trying to help Arsenal top four finish in the Premiership and on making further progress in the Champions League, where Arsenal currently have a 2-0 advantage over Italian Serie A champions Juventus to take into the second leg of their quarter-final tie next week.

“My main concern right now is to finish in the top four, because it's vital for the club and anything that is going to happen at the club next, and to concentrate on winning the Champions League.”

The 28-year-old, who declared back in January that he wanted to stay at Arsenal and lead the team out at their new, 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium in Ashburton Grove in August, has said money was not a sticking point in the negotiations over a new contract.

“People were talking about money but I think people should know by now I am not someone who thinks about the money before the game,” he said.

“That is why, when I talked about sporting ambitions, I was talking about the pitch and nothing else.”

Henry, who joined the North London club from Juventus in 1999, and became the club's record goal-scorer earlier this season, is the most vital player on the pitch for the Gunners, leading by example and currently topping this season’s Premiership goal-scoring table with 19 goals.

This has led to the Frenchman being offered a new five-year deal which Arsenal club chairman Peter Hill-Wood described in January as “fantastic”.

Henry has now indicated his final decision will depend on how ambitious he believes Arsenal are about the club’s future.

Arsenal manager Arsene said Wenger has been eager to secure a new contract with Henry saying: “On my side it has always been the same, on his side, only Thierry can explain where he stands.

“Thierry has said many times he is ambitious and wants to be part of an ambitious club. I feel that we are one.”

It is now though, that Henry has indicated he will not let the uncertainty over his future drag on too long, and will make a decision before the World Cup Finals – something that led Wenger to joke: “The World Cup starts on June 9, so we should know on June 8 at midnight!”

However, the Arsenal boss insisted: “When he is ready, I have no deadline. I do not think it would be good for him to wait until after the World Cup, although for me it would be less disturbing than for him.

“You can get calls during the World Cup and it can disturb your focus. He came out right to say he will decide before the World Cup.”