5 Reasons Why Arsenal Need To Force RVP To Stay

Guest post by Gooner Daily:

Robin van Persie has stalled his contract talks till the end of the season (source: Independent) and skeptics feel that Arsenal may be about to face the same fate they found with Samir Nasri but the club’s hierarchy has announced that he’s going nowhere. This is the same club whose manager claimed that “big clubs don’t sell their big players” (source: Guardian) only t0 sell Fabregas and Nasri in the same summer, so i take what they say with a pinch of salt.

Robin van Persie’s importance to Arsenal is unquestionable so here are five reasons why Arsenal have to force the Dutchman to see out the final year of his contract if he chooses not to renew:

He is Arsenal’s Talisman

Down the years, many football clubs have done transfer business with their peers but questions are always raised when the club’s go as far as selling its best player. Patrick Vieira left Arsenal for Juventus in 2006 but there were many ‘leaders’ left in the team despite the fact that he was the captain.

When Fabregas followed suit this season, Van Persie assumed the role of captain and he presently epitomizes everything Arsenal want to be. Selling van Persie would signal a downward spiral that can be reminiscent of the club’s performances after the Carling Cup final loss to Birmingham City. We would, one again, be sending out the wrong message to the fans, the players and our rivals.

His Vital Experience

Robin van Persie joined Arsenal in the summer of 2004 and he has fused himself into the nucleus of the team. In his eight seasons at Arsenal, he has played 181 League games, 31 Cup games and 54 games in Europe summing up to 266 appearances and he already has 123 goals to show for it.

Van Persie is a vastly experienced forward that has locked horns with defenders all over the globe and his age (28) paints the picture vividly for everyone.

His Style of Play

In his Feyernoord days under the tutelage of Bert van Marwijk, van Persie played as a left winger and possessed exceptional dribbling skills but was also a talented striker of the ball. Touted as the long-term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp, van Persie began his Arsenal career as a supporting striker behind Thierry Henry.

He contributed immensely to Arsenal with countless goals and a boatload of assists for his team mates. The exits of Emmanuel Adebayor and Eduardo da Silva coupled with Wenger’s tactical switch to 4-2-3-1 has seen van Persie deployed as the sole striker and this has made him to harness his goal scoring skills. He fits perfectly into the Arsenal system, and every positive going forward goes through him.

Lack of Replacements

Arsenal have scored only 48 League goals this season and van Persie has 22 of them. Luckily for Arsenal, the Dutchman has so far remained injury-free this season as we don’t have any adequate replacements ready to come in.

Van Persie’s present deputies in the centre forward department include a Moroccan clearly bereft of confidence and a Korean that hasn’t been deemed good enough to start a League game yet. Should anything happen to the Flying Dutchman, we would be in severe trouble. Of course should we decide to sell in the summer, we would have the funds to buy a replacement. But, would Arsene buy and who is available to fill the boots of RVP?

His Goals

As stated above, Van Persie contributes a boat-load of goals to Arsenal. But it’s not just the amount of goals he scores, it’s the various types of goals he’s capable of scoring. Headers, left foot, right foot, tap in’s, 25 yard screamers, free kicks….RVP can do the lot.

So i am in no doubt Van Persie HAS to remain with Arsenal next season, even if he refuses to sign a new contract.