Van Persie delays contract talks

Arsenal captain Robin van Persie has put off talks over a new contract to concentrate on helping the Gunners recover from their dismal start.

Manager Arsene Wenger was forced to sell Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy to Manchester City as the duo had only a year left on their contracts – a situation Van Persie too will be in at the end of the current campaign.

As a result, Wenger is keen to tie his star striker down to a new deal as soon as possible, but van Persie, who reached 100 goals for Arsenal in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Bolton, revealed he has bigger priorities.

“I still have almost two years until 2013,” the Dutchman told reporters.

“So for the moment that’s fine, but I don’t know. We will have to look.”

“I’m happy with my contract, I’m good. That’s how it is, I can’t say much more. I can’t look into the future.”

“The main thing for me is the team and that we play well. I do believe you have to look for a right moment to sit down and speak about your own stuff. It’s not only about me, it’s about the team.”

“I don’t want to give the wrong message to speak about my own stuff while the others are a bit more important.”

“I can’t say we are talking now because we are so busy – we have games every three or four days.”