Robin Van Persie Should Seek Advice From Thomas Vermaelen

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie should take a leaf out of Thomas Vermaelen’s book when weighing up his contract options.

Vermaelen, like van Persie, entered the final 2 years of his Arsenal contract recently and Arsene Wenger made it clear he wanted to tie these players down before next summer and avoid another situation similar to that of Samir Nasri.

The two players have approached their contract negotiations in a very different manner. Vermaelen sat down, listened to what Wenger had to say and duly signed a new contract extension committing his future to the Gunners. A main reason behind his decision was wanting to repay the club for sticking by him during his injury problems. The defender was out all of last year through injury and the Belgian felt he owed the club, for which he’s only really played in one full season. He said:

“I thought about the situation with my contract for a really long time,” said Vermaelen.

“Of course, I knew there were doubts from outside about the club. But the most important thing for me is that I feel happy here.

“I have only really played one year of games at Arsenal, so I wanted to give something back to the club that has looked after me.

“I believe in the club, I think the structure is really good. They are the main reasons I stayed.

“I think we can challenge the other clubs like Man City and Man United. We have to look at ourselves and we had to do that when our start wasn’t perfect.”

However, Van Persie has refused to discuss a contract renewal until the end of the season, leaving Arsenal in a dangerous position.

He may be in the form of his life right now, scoring an incredible amount of goals during 2011. But lest we forget this is the first time in his Arsenal career the Dutchman has managed to go over 6 months without picking up a serious injury.

Having joined Arsenal in 2004, van Persie has averaged just 22 Premier League games per season for the Gunners. I was actually surprised it was that much, but he has hardly been a reliable striker for us.

I understand van Persie’s reluctance to commit given Arsenal’s inability to challenge for major honours in recent years, but surely he owes the Gunners as much, if not more, than Vermaelen does? The Gunners have stuck by him through several years of injury problems and paid his wages throughout. Wenger has shown huge faith in keeping him on the books when many were questioning whether keeping an unreliable and injury-prone striker was a sensible move.

As you can see from my Football-Talk username (RVP10), I am a huge fan of Van P. But there is no reason why he can’t sign a new contract, like Cesc did, and if Arsenal don’t finish in the top four this season, or don’t look like fulfilling your ambitions, ask for a move in the summer. We all know contracts aren’t worth the paper there written on anymore, so why not put all the uncertainty out the window, sign up now, and enjoy his injury-free run without any distractions.

Go on Robin, you know you want to!!!