Arsenal have to keep hold of vantastic Dutchman

Arsenal’s chairman Peter Hill-Wood has revealed that he is calm over the future of Dutch striker Robin Van Persie.

He told the Daly Star: “He doesn’t want to talk about it at the moment and we are not troubling him,”

“I think we will approach him near the end of the season. But we obviously hope that he will sign a new contract – I don’t see why he should not. I can’t believe he is unhappy with us.”

Vantastic

It is vital that Arsenal keep hold of Van Persie. The 28 year-old is the last world-class star that the club possesses. If Van Persie goes then the Gunners would be in major trouble. Since the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri left he was really stepped up as the star man at the club. It seems he enjoys being the star man at the Emirates Stadium.

Goals

His goal scoring record this year is literally second to none in the Premier League. The Dutchman has claimed an incredible 29 goals this year in the English top flight, better than all his leading competitors. He is enjoying the most prolific period of his career.

Injuries

One of the keys to his superb scoring record this year is the fact that he has avoided picking up any major injuries. In previous seasons he was always plagued by injuries which prevented him from becoming the player he is showing he is today.

Waiting

Van Persie has just 19 months left on his Arsenal contract. The Dutchman has declined invitations to discuss a new deal. This is a similar sort of situation that Arsenal got themselves into with Samir Nasri. They left it too late to try and tie him up and had to sell him or risk losing the Frenchman for nothing.

Nobody is sure of Van Persie’s intentions but he has previously stated that he wants to stay at the Emirates. I believe he is waiting to see the quality of player that arrives at the club in the next two transfer windows.

Ambitious

Van Persie is in the prime of his career and he is obviously ambition. He must want to win trophies and he’s not going to do that anytime soon with the Gunners. I think he will wait until after next summers window shuts before deciding whether to stay or go.

I don’t believe Arsenal will have the money to significantly strengthen the squad enough next summer to become real challengers next season.

Interested

If reports are to be believed Premier League leaders Manchester City are ready to snap up the Dutchman. Then again Manchester City get linked with every play that has a good game these days. If City were to come in with an offer for Van Persie then I believe Arsenal would have to consider it because of his contractual situation.

If he did go to Manchester City its difficult to see where he would fit into the team. He could unfortunately become yet another expensive bench warmer at the Etihad Stadium. A situation that wouldn’t be ideal for the striker.

Compete

I do believe that Robin Van Persie has a genuine affection for Arsenal but at the moment the club can’t give him what he wants, that’s to win trophies. In an ideal world Arsenal would strengthen their squad enough in the next two transfer windows that they could challenge for the Premier League title or the Champions League.

Unfortunately the way the club operates financially means that Arsenal are a long way off the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United in terms of spending money. Then again every club is behind Manchester City in terms of spending money.

The club will however be in a good position when the financial fair play rules come in but until then they simply can’t compete with the teams around them.

Stay

For Arsenal fans sake I hope he decides to stay at the Emirates and tries to help the club regain their status in English football. However it seems Robin Van Persie craves success and it doesn’t look like he will get that Arsenal.

Who can blame him though. As a footballer you want to win trophies and be successful. I just hope he doesn’t move and end up wasting his talent on somebody’s substitutes bench.

Will Robin Van Persie stay at Arsenal?