Arsenal legend Thierry Henry teaching Theo Walcott about striker role - Telegraph.co.uk

Wisely, Wenger urged people to avoid any comparisons between ­Walcott and his predecessor in the No14 shirt. "It's a bit early to compare him to Thierry Henry. Let's not put him under too much pressure. He has played two games and you have to be open-minded in our job and give people a chance. If they take it it's good. If they don't he will still be a fantastic winger, so it puts some more assets in his game. I am confident he will do well."

Wenger made the point that Arsenal play a different system to when Henry was in his predatory pomp. "Before we had more specialists in midfield. We had [Patrick] Vieira and Gilberto [Silva] in midfield so you could play with more strikers. Now we have Wilshere, Arteta, Cazorla, Chamberlain and Podolski. It's difficult to find the balance defensively."

Olivier Giroud is available to face Newcastle after recovering from his recent bout of illness but Wenger indicated that central role was earmarked for Walcott.

Wenger has been linked with recruiting a striker in the January window like Barcelona's David Villa or Newcastle's Demba Ba. "If you ask me 'Do we sign Demba Ba?' I say no," said Wenger, who then pointed out the problems of finding top attacking talent.

"It is difficult. Manchester United bought Robin van Persie for £24 million and he is 29 years old. They have scouts all over the world. They looked everywhere. Don't think that they just came in and bought Van Persie, they looked everywhere else. But to find the quality of striker that would strengthen a top Premier League team at the moment in the world is difficult."

He remarked that an alternative could be "to find him inside" the club. That could mean either Walcott or Henry. On Henry, Wenger said: "I've not lost interest in him. He's still coming today to practise with us. You have to be cautious that it's not one time too many."

Wenger admitted that he will be busy in January. He had "not had a call from Reading" about Andrei Arshavin but "if he finds a solution that is satisfying for him and for us we will consider it". Wenger is also open to offers for another striker, Marouane Chamakh.