Laurent Koscielny has played down suggestions he will return to France to join Marseille this summer, telling SFR Sport it is difficult to leave "a club like Arsenal."
Koscielny moved to Arsenal from Ligue 1 side Lorient in 2010, and has since developed not only into a senior France international, but also become a mainstay of the north London club's first team under Arsene Wenger.
That status and the experience of the 31-year-old has led to reports he is a target for Marseille, whose ambitious new owner Frank McCourt is determined to return the club to the upper echelons of French football.
Koscielny, whose Arsenal contract runs through to 2020, said he has yet to consider his future with his club still not finished their Premier League season.
"I have read between the lines, people have often talked to me about it. There's nothing concrete," the centre-back said of Marseille's supposed interest. "I have told my representatives to not talk to me about it, because I'm focused on the end of the season with Arsenal. That's the minimum of respect I could have for the club."
He added: "It could be something I'd like to do to come back to France, but there are a lot of questions, because it's not easy to go back to France after seven years at a club like Arsenal. It'll be choices but outside of football, choices of life, that will be important for the next stage of my career."
Koscielny's future could be swayed by whether or not he and his teammates manage to clinch their club's 21st successive top-four finish and secure Champions League football for next season.
Arsenal's 2-0 win over Sunderland on Tuesday ensured the Gunners still have a chance of doing that as they moved to within a point of fourth-placed Liverpool meaning the pair will duel at a distance on Sunday's final day.
While Jurgen Klopp's men are at home to relegated Middlesbrough, Arsenal face seventh-placed Everton at Emirates Stadium.
"We have given ourselves a chance," goalkeeper Petr Cech told SFR Sport after second-half goals from Alexis Sanchez had ended Sunderland's stubborn resistance.
"We had to win the match today, and clearly we were able to do that. The three points we got today was the only possibility to be in the fight for the last match. We'll see what happens on Sunday. We have a difficult game too at home and we have to win."
The former Chelsea player said the off-the-pitch speculation over Arsene Wenger's own future had not affected the team on it and could not be considered an explanation for the squad's mixed campaign.
"No, we think about our work," he said. "The best thing to support the coach or the staff is to perform well, that's it."