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19 March 2024

Arsenal players to Wenger: keep RVP or lose all

Arsenal's Robin van Persie has scored 37 goals this season. (FILE)

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By Staff

Arsene Wenger is under increasing pressure to retain Robin van Persie at any cost if Arsenal are serious about winning trophies.

With just a year left on his contract, talks on a new £130,000-a-week offer for the Arsenal skipper has stalled with negotiations at a delicate stage.

Van Persie’s Arsenal team-mates Aaron Ramsey and Bacary Sagna are hopeful he will stay for obvious reasons.

“It’s important we keep Robin if we seriously want to be title contenders. He has proven this season what his value is to the team with the goals he has scored," Ramsey was quoted in The Sun.
 
“It’s important to keep those sort of players at the club. He was our top goal-scorer, won the Golden Boot and the Player of the Year awards, so any team would want to keep him. Arsenal are no different," he added.

Ramsey felt the Gunners will have to act sooner than later because they look up to Van Persie for inspiration.

“He hasn’t given any of the other lads any indications on what he is going to do. Nothing has been said. But, hopefully, he will stay,” said Ramsey who is pleased with his first 'full' season at the club after returning from a career-threatening injury.

Ramsey's team mate Bacary Sagna believes Van Persie will spend at least one more season at the Emirates, with a longer stay still possible if Arsenal prove themselves contenders for major silverware, according to the Daily Mail.

"To keep Robin would be great. Everyone loves him. I know him very well and I'm sure he'll be here next season. He's going to think about his long-term plans and it's always difficult to say what will happen way ahead," he said.

"Qualification for Arsenal for next season's Champions League was important to him. We want to focus on doing well now. Whether he will definitely be here beyond next season is a difficult question to answer," said the 29-year-old France full-back who has just completed a fifth season at the club.

"I honestly don't know and Robin is the only person who will know that and I'm not sure that he's even sure. I can tell you that he has a great desire to win games and to play in the Champions League," he added.

Welcoming the arrival of Germany international Lukas Podolski, he hoped more players like French team mate Yanny M'Villa would join Arsenal.

"M'Vila can make a great impact. I'm not sure about his English but it took me time to learn. But I think he would suit us as well. Arsenal is a French-speaking team and it will help him settle," added Sagna.
 

 
Fabregas comes to Arsenal's rescue

Cesc Fabregas has come to the rescue of Arsenal by urging Robin van Persie to help his former club win trophies.

Barely a year after quitting Emirates to return to Barcelona, the Spain midfielder insists he remains an Arsenal fan.

Fabregas told a Catalan newspaper: "As an Arsenal fan I would be happy if he stayed in London to help Arsenal win titles."

The former Arsenal captain is still loved by the Emirates faithful unlike Samir Nasri who crossed over to Manchester City and had a running battle with fans and players alike.

Nasri went as far as labelling the current crop of Arsenal players as 'mercenaries' and insisted they deserved nothing better than third place.

Fabregas for his part has maintained his respect Arsene Wenger's Arsenal despite leaving in acrimonious circumstances.

He showed his loyalty to Arsenal by insisting Van Perise should not leave Emirates this summer.

Arsenal are bracing themselves for a long-running transfer saga with the Dutch international yet to commit his future to the club.

The Gunners have offered van Persie a deal worth £130,000-a-week plus a £5 million signing-on fee and may hold him to the final year of his contract, according to the Mirror.

But they face a battle to keep the Premier League's top scoer as Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus are in for him while Real Madrid and Barcelona are watching developments.