Van Persie Won’t Sign New Deal

Robin Van Persie today announced that he will not be signing a new contract at the club. Van Persie said that he had met with Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis over his future, but stated that he disagreed with the club’s vision for the future.

“I’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract,”

Van Persie also talked about a meeting he had back in May with Gazidis and Wenger: “This was a meeting about the club’s future strategy and their policy. Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all.

“I personally have had a great season but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days.

“Out of my huge respect for Mr Wenger, the players and the fans I don’t want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.”

“I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens,” he added. “I have grown up and became a man during my time with Arsenal FC.

“Everybody at the club and the fans have always supported me over the years and I have always given my all [and more] on and off the pitch. I am very proud of being part of this fantastic club for the last eight years.”

So here we are again Gooners. Another summer, another big departure it seems. Although Van Persie didn’t say he was leaving this summer, Arsenal would be mental to keep him for a season and then lose him for nothing. So I expect us to cash in and lose yet another captain. It’s becoming an annual tradition to lose our captain / best players. Also, does this mean that Walcott will want out too, with one year left on his deal?. Quite possible.

Arsenal may have already added Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud this summer, but after Van Persie leaves, they will need to spend the money on the rest of the team. With many of the club’s strikers (Bendtner, Vela, Campbell on loan, Chamakh and Park) all likely to leave the club, the Gunners will need to buy some more strikers. As well as this, there are other needs in the team too, so they will need to spend any money received on new players into new signings.

– Vieira set the trend by leaving Arsenal for Juventus in 2005. Arsenal haven’t won a trophy since.

– Thierry Henry left for Barcelona in 2007.

– Although stripped of captaincy before leaving, William Gallas left Arsenal for Tottenham after his contract expired in 2010.

– Cesc Fabregas returned to boyhood club Barcelona in 2011.

As you can see, Arsenal have lost a fair few of their former captains in the past 7 years or so. Not only captains have left, but key players like Ashley Cole, Gilberto, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb, Samir Nasri and many others have walked out on the club in the past 7 years. After Vieira went, Arsenal have slowly declined. They went from a club challenging for the league title and winning trophies to a club fighting to qualify for the Champions League. The trend is continuing this summer it seems, it is likely that maybe Alex Song, Thomas Vermaelen and Theo Walcott would consider their futures too. Someone big will probably leave next summer too, that’s just the way it is right now at Arsenal.

As I said in my post the other day though, Robin has been injury prone for most of his career at the club. He’s had one season that he has stayed fit in and despite the amount of faith and time that Wenger gave him, he’s turning his back on us. Take the money now and cash in. Nobody, I repeat nobody, is bigger than a club. Whether you’re Barcelona or Forest Green Rovers, no player is bigger than the club itself. If Robin wants to go, there is no point keeping him, especially with just the one year left. So take the money, reinvest in the squad and have players that are happy to be at the club and good enough. I just hope that Wenger does reinvest. Not only reinvest, but sell Van Persie NOW. Get the money and new players in NOW. Don’t wait until August 31st again. Wenger and the board can’t use their excuse from last year either, as Arsenal are in the group stages for the Champions League, so can attract players with Champions League football.

I see a lot of Spurs fans laughing at Arsenal on Twitter now. But despite the fact that Arsenal have lost all the players and captains listed above since 2005, Spurs still haven’t finished above us. So come next May, I’m confident we’ll be the ones laughing at your expense once more. Enjoy July. Surely you have learnt your lesson from last year not to blow your load too early?. 13 points clear at the end of January and you finish one below us at the end of the season. Yup. So enjoy this moment as you know you’ll be below us again come May 2013…

Here is the link to what Van Persie said for those interested: http://robinvanpersie.com/2012/07/04/update-for-the-fans/