He has already won the Premiership twice with Arsenal, as well as the FA Cup three times, and has scored 100 goals for the club, having previously lifted the UEFA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup while at Inter Milan and Ajax.

But the perfect scenario for the former Holland international would now be to secure Champions League success as that remains an unfulfilled goal.

Bergkamp said: “This season will be my last. I am 34 now and I will be 35 when my contract expires. Already, I think my time at Arsenal has been an achievement.

“For a striker to play at the level which Arsenal operate at, for eight years, and still to be playing football is an achievement, but I wouldn’t be happy unless I felt I could still improve and achieve something.

“I would love to have a great season, to be involved and be important for the team. That’s basically it.

“I am not really thinking of this season as just saying goodbye. I want to win something. I want to make this the best season that I have ever had because I will never have another chance. So I have got to take it.”

Bergkamp was on the bench for last weekend’s win against Everton, with Sylvain Wiltord preferred up front in the starting line-up and he may find himself being used less regularly this season.

However, it remains to be seen whether he returns to the side tomorrow at Middlesbrough, where Sol Campbell faces a late fitness test on a shoulder problem, while Pascal Cygan and Francis Jeffers will be missing through injury and suspension respectively.

Above all, he still retains immense belief in his ability and made himself virtually indispensable last season with his consistent form.

So much so that several other clubs were interested in signing him if Arsenal had not increased their original wage offer to him this summer.

“The boss and myself basically agreed last January or February that I would carry on at the club. After that, it was just a matter of sorting out the details around it, which we did, and we are all happy,” he told the club’s official programme.

“My agent told me that, if I decided to go, there were many clubs that were interested in me, but I was never interested in that. I just wanted to sign for another year at Arsenal – nowhere else.”

Bergkamp has no idea what his future may hold after his career, which began in the youth ranks at Ajax, comes to an end.

“If I wasn’t sitting here now, I wouldn’t know what I would be doing instead, so it is very strange. From an early age, I have been playing football at a competitive level, even as a 12-year-old back at Ajax,” he added.

“The excitement and passion is a big part of your life and I will need to replace it with something else.

“At the moment though, I don’t think that management is likely. You really have to focus on football 24 hours a day to be a successful manager and if I go into something, then I want to be good at it.

“Although I love my football, I love my freedom too. So I really don’t know what I will do at the moment. I am still young and I want to do something else in life. I think it will be in Holland as we will move back there eventually.”