 |
| Decision time (image guardian.co.uk) |
Robin Van Persie is still yet to sign a new contract with
Arsenal, with many Gunners fans fearing the worst that the Flying Dutchman will
follow in the footsteps of the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the
search for pastures new. Robin Van Persie may only be one player, but whether
he stays or goes could profoundly affect future of the club he currently Captains
and their prospects of competing at the top of the Premier League in the
future.
This season Robin Van Persie has really come to the fore off
the back of a great tail end to last season. He has remained virtually injury
free, enabling him to tally up the impressive total of 30 goals in 38 league
appearances collecting the Golden Boot as top scorer whilst hoarding both the
PFA Player of the Year award and the Football Writers award for what was an outstanding
season. These awards epitomise his importance to the Gunners.
Nevertheless, despite Arsenal qualifying for next season’s
Champions League, he has not renewed his contract. The reason? Trophies. The
Dutchman has made it clear he will stay only to win trophies, and as it has
been 7 years since Arsenal last claimed one, you can clearly see his
frustration.
The only way Arsene Wenger can sign top quality players in
Europe is if they are able to accompany other top quality players at the club
they join; such as Robin Van Persie. Therefore if another top quality player
leaves (following from Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy) , Arsenal become a less
enticing proposition for big names, meaning the club will struggle not just to
compete with the spending powers of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester
United, but struggle to win what everyone craves at Arsenal; Silverware.
Arsene Wenger has yet to send a message out that he is
willing to improve his squad. Albeit he has brought in Podolski; a player who
burst onto the scene with so much promise, but has yet to reach his potential,
though I firmly believe he can; he has not brought in a star name that would
boost not only Arsenal’s reputation but belief that they can go on to win
something next season and most importantly, encourage their Captain to stay.
If however Van Persie does sign a new deal, the pendulum of
Arsenal’s prospects swings in the opposite direction. This would send a message
out not only to the club and the fans but to foreign players that Wenger and
Arsenal are looking to improve the squad to a side capable of winning trophies
again, to the extent that a World Class player (which Van Persie undoubtedly
is) was encouraged to stay due to the belief that he also believes the club is
capable of doing that.
On the other hand, the omens don’t look good for the
Gunners. Arsenal missed out on Eden Hazard and now also look set to miss out on
Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa and Rennes’ Yann M’Vila, who was widely expected to
sign for Arsenal a few weeks back, however the deal has dragged on and to some
it looks like it is dead in the water. In addition, the length of time it is
taking Robin Van Persie to come to a decision may also be sending shivers down
the faithful of the Emirates’ spines, accompanied by what I see as a potential
replacement signing in Podolski, though not of the same calibre, but of a
similar playing style, both powerful left-footed forwards who started off out
wide.
The bottom line is RVP hasn’t signed the dotted line. If he does,
Arsenal will be a far stronger team and club for it; if he doesn’t, the wait
for another trophy in the dust-ridden Emirates Trophy Cabinet will go on.
Comments
Post a Comment