The Dutch striker, signed 10 years ago for £7.5m (€10.8m) from Inter Milan, becomes a free agent in the summer but hinted that he would like to stay on for a further season – Arsenal’s last at Highbury.

However, Bergkamp, who will be 36 in May, says the final decision rests with manager Arsene Wenger, who was glowing in his assessment of Bergkamp’s contribution against Newcastle.

The Dutchman’s strike was his fourth of the season and his first since last August yet it was his intelligent approach play that impressed the most. Now he is hoping to earn another year at the club and bow out at the same time as Arsenal bid farewell to their old stadium.

Bergkamp said: “As for the future, I feel good. It would be nice to have another year, to experience the last year at Highbury. It has been a big part of my life. But we will see. Everything will be sorted out at the end of the season.

“My decision would be to have another year. But I don’t know what will happen. Sometimes it is difficult to know what the boss and the club are thinking. I am in my 10th year at the club. As for a testimonial, we are thinking about it. But I am still focusing on my playing career and we will have to see what happens. A testimonial, as I see it, is the last game of your career.”

But striker Thierry Henry today urged the club to grant Bergkamp’s wish to stay for a further year.

The Frenchman said: “He fancies playing another year I also fancy him playing for another year. Without saying anything bad about anyone, when Dennis plays, I only concentrate on going behind the defence. When he is not there, I have to drop back.

“I have played with a lot of great players and he is amazing. He always has a great desire when he is on the pitch and you can never complain about him.

“At his age, to be doing what he is doing, it is unbelievable. I don’t know if I will still be playing at his age. He is a great guy.”

Arsenal’s narrow victory once again shortened the gap at the top to a mere 10 points behind runaway leaders Chelsea and Bergkamp, like his manager, refuses to give up the chase until it is mathematically impossible.

Bergkamp said: “It was so important to get a result against Newcastle. As for the gap between us and Chelsea, you never know. It will be difficult but we try not to look at the table.

“We need to start playing like we used to. We can’t do anything about Chelsea. We have lost too many points and that is our own fault.”

While Bergkamp is hoping to stay on for their final year at Highbury, it is almost certain that the club will part company with troubled midfielder Jermaine Pennant.

He has being charged for the second time in less than a year with drink driving. The midfielder was arrested after crashing a Mercedes Benz car into a lamppost less than 10 hours before their clash with Newcastle on Sunday.

Pennant was arrested after failing a breath test at the scene in Aylesbury town centre yesterday.

The former England under-21 star was once the country’s most expensive footballing teenager but his career has been littered with problems off the pitch.

His Arsenal contract expires at the end of the season and the latest incident throws Pennant’s future with the club into doubt.

He was held for several hours before being bailed to appear in court next month.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “Jermaine Pennant collided with a lamppost in Aylesbury. He was suspected of drink driving and taken to Aylesbury police station where he was charged with drink driving and was bailed to appear at Aylesbury Magistrates Court on 1 February.”

In February 2004, Pennant was banned for 16 months and fined £1,200 after police saw him making an illegal u-turn in Paddington. He was almost twice over the limit driving to his hotel from a nightclub.

During the 2003 European qualifiers, the youngster was sent home from England Under-21 games against Turkey and Portugal after breaking a team curfew.