David Beckham was once a thorn in the side of Arsène Wenger but the manager now sees him as a role model for Arsenal's young players.

Wenger has confirmed Beckham, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, will work at Arsenal's London Colney training ground next month "occasionally with the first team or the reserves" to maintain fitness now the Major League Soccer season is over.

They have usually been in opposite corners - one of Beckham's finest moments came in his performance for Manchester United against Arsenal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final, a game United won 2-1 en route to the treble - but Wenger has the highest regard for the player. Yesterday it was clear one of the virtues he felt Beckham had always shown resonates with the times.

"He has always shown respect for his manager, even when he was dropped," said Wenger. "He didn't come out in a silly way, in a spoilt way."

Wenger wants several of his Arsenal players, in particular Lassana Diarra, to heed the example. He struggled to conceal his exasperation with Diarra. Although he appears ready to allow Jens Lehmann to leave for Borussia Dortmund in search of regular first-team football to increase his chances of starting for Germany in the European Championship next summer, he will not be dictated to by Diarra.

The 22-year-old France international moved to Arsenal on August 31st, from Chelsea, but chose the morning of the Premier League meeting with his former club two weeks ago to announce he wanted a transfer. The League Cup has not been enough for him; four Premier League starts have eaten away at his patience.

Wenger chose to remind Diarra, and any of the other young players in his squad who believe they should be making quicker progress, that nowhere else in the game would they be afforded such a platform.

"You tell me one club in the world of our size who gives a chance to the young players like we do," he said.

"At our club, young players are in paradise. Usually you have to wait until 26, 27 to get a chance at a big club. You go to Real Madrid, you go to Milan - when do the young players play?"

Wenger takes his team to Everton today seeking to arrest a run of three league away games without a win. Diarra, coveted by a host of clubs including Tottenham and Lyon, is in the squad but Wenger wants him to digest a few home truths.

"When you sign a contract, nobody puts a gun to your head," he said. "Nobody forced me to sign (my contract). I am 58. I have never said, once I had signed a contract, 'Listen, I have a difficult patch at the moment, I want to go.'

"I cannot understand that people are surprised there is competition at big clubs. If you change for another big club you have the same competition again.

"I understand the frustrations of players who don't play but at the end of the day I will do what is best for the club. We are not in a kindergarten, we are in a job for men. It is a job for strong people, and those who stay strong always come out. Diarra has the talent to be at a big club - he belongs to a big club. He doesn't play at the moment but if he continues to fight he will play."

Wenger, who will welcome back Johan Djourou, the central defender, from his loan spell at Birmingham City, has insisted he will not enter the January transfer market. He may yet need another goalkeeper, though, if Lehmann leaves for Dortmund.

"Lehmann's situation is completely different," said the manager. "If I ask Lehmann to stay he will stay. But he has played five or six years, he is 38 and it's his last chance to play at the European Championship. I don't want to stop him from playing at the European Championship. Jens hasn't made up his mind yet."

Robin van Persie, the striker, is ruled out of the trip to Everton and the visit of West Ham United on New Year's Day but Wenger is confident his young squad can stay the championship course.

"Had we not had the impossible schedule that the Premier League made for us with three away games on the trot (in early December) we would still be unbeaten today," he said.

"We deserve to be where we are and what is good is that we can do better." - Guardian Service