Van Persie’s
current deal runs until 2013 and Arsenal
are desperate to avoid a re-run of the situation they experienced this summer
with Samir Nasri going into the final 12 months of his existing contract and
leaving for Manchester City.
Clubs like
to renegotiate in the season before the final year of contracts but Van Persie
is one of four key players who have less than two years left on their deals,
along with Theo Walcott, Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song.
However the
28-year-old Dutch international is Arsenal’s most important asset and manager
Arsène Wenger confirmed that Van Persie had come to him before the start of the
season because he was anxious about the club’s future following the departures
of Nasri and Cesc Fabregas.
“If you’re
in Robin’s place and you see Nasri going, Fabregas going, then you can be
worried, of course,” Wenger said.
“Robin is 28
years old, arrived at 21 or 22 and we will not lose all the players. We lost
Fabregas [to Barcelona] not because of a financial reason but because of an
understandable reason even if it hurts us a lot.
"You
can understand that but the one which is less understandable is Nasri. That was
more down to him having one year on his contract.”
A repeat of
that scenario is unthinkable for Arsenal and there have been suggestions that
the club is keen to offer the striker a new five-year deal.
But Van
Persie refused to give any encouragement that he is keen to hold talks now. “I
still have almost two years until 2013,” he said after scoring twice in
Saturday’s Premier League victory over Bolton Wanderers, taking his tally for
the club to the century mark.
“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.”
Van Persie
added that he would prefer to leave any negotiation about that future until the
end of the season, which will cause some nervousness at Arsenal.
“Maybe leave
it because the main thing for me is the team and that we play well,” he said
when asked if he would want to hold talks soon. “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,
especially now. I can’t see we are talking now because we are so busy.
"We
have games every three or four days. I don’t think it’s clever to do that
during the season. We have to see, I don’t know.”
Van Persie
signed a four-year deal, worth around £70,000-a-week in 2009, having arrived at
Arsenal from Feyenoord in 2004 and has developed into one of the most
accomplished strikers in Europe.
There would
be no shortage of clubs in England and, in particular, Italy, who would like to
acquire him should he indicate he would like to leave.
At the time
of his last negotiation he stalled on signing the contract because he had,
also, expressed his concern as to whether Arsenal would be in contention to win
titles.
Van Persie
has not won a trophy since the FA Cup in 2005 and it is understood he wants to
see how this season develops following the departure of two key players.
Van Persie
said he was “very proud” to become only the 17th player in Arsenal’s history to
score a century of goals and paid tribute to Wenger for giving him the
“confidence” to play as a main striker.
Theo Walcott
pulled up in injury-time during Saturday’s win with fears that he may have
damaged a hamstring.
However it
is understood Walcott only jarred a knee and is hoping to be fit for
Wednesday’s Champions League tie at home to Olympiakos.
No comments:
Post a Comment