Robin Van Persie Decides Not To Extend Arsenal Contract, So What Now For The Gunners?

Alan Duffy

4th, July 2012

28 Comments

By Alan Duffy

In news that most Gooners were dreading, their beloved captain RVP decided not to renew his contract with the north Londoners. The Dutch striker released the following statement on his own website:

“This is an update for the fans about my current situation. I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr. Gazidis and Mr. Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.

As announced earlier this year I had a meeting with the Boss and Mr. Gazidis after the season. 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’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract. You guys, the fans, have of course the right to disagree with my view and decision and I will always respect your opinions.

I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens. 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 8 years. As soon as Mr. Gazidis is back from his 2-week holiday in America further meetings will follow and I will update you if and when there are more developments.”

So there you have it, quite a damning judgement on Arsene Wenger and co., to be honest.

Apparently, the Gunners themselves weren’t expecting such a statement from their captain, and eventually released a rather bland one of their own:

“

We have to respect Robin’s decision not to renew his contract. Robin has one year to run on his current contract and we are confident that he will fulfil his commitments to the Club.

“We are planning with ambition and confidence for next season with Arsenal’s best interests in mind.”

Now, let’s face it, Van Persie is 28 and this will probably be his last chance for a big move to a bigger club, so I don’t think too many Arsenal fans will be angered by that simple fact. However, on the other hand, this is a player who, before last season, had spent much of his time plagued by injury. Therefore, you could say that it’s a bit cheeky for RVP to feck off after one proper decent season for Arsenal. Finally, after losing Cesc Fabregas last season, Gooners won’t be happy by the fact that yet another captain and star player is leaving.

Looking at the statement from Arsenal, they may well be planning to keep their Dutch star for the remaining year of his contract. However, it might be wiser to cash in on their prize possession now, with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid sniffing about. Also, going on his career so far, the odds of Van Persie going another season free from injury are slim.

Anyway, with Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski already brought in as replacements up front, Wenger could do worse than cash in his Dutch chips and bolster his defence with a shiny new signing or two, and maybe even bring in a new goalkeeper. After all, last season scoring goals wasn’t the issue for the Gunners, it was keeping them out at the other end.

Posted in Arsenal, Transfers & Rumours

Share this article: Email

28 Comments

  1. mark says:

    fuckkkk not this again, why the fuck is this happening?

  2. TheBelgianBrady says:

    And I thought Na$ri was despicable. This is much worse: basically saying he loves Arsenal so much he wants to leave. Great show from our captain there.

    I can’t say I’m saddened by this news though. It was coming anyways. Just take the money and run. He’s already showing the kind of odious attitude that he brought to the Holland camp in the Euro’s as well.

    Bye Robin, nice knowin’ ya. I bet that PSG/Juve/Real/Man City jersey’ll look dashing on you.

  3. plops says:

    “I don’t think too many Arsenal fans will be angered by that simple fact”. Oh they will, they will.

    Can’t really blame the guy though, he wants to win things and he isn’t going to win anything at Arsenal. Too many fans seem to think players owe them/the club something. They don’t. It’s just a job – a vehicle to win trophies/make money. Not many actually have club loyalty. I’m sure most people would do the same given the chance (the chance of a higher wage/promotion etc).

  4. garza says:

    PSG or Man City can have him. Can’t imagine how he’d fit in at Real at this point. Juve might need him but I don’t know how Conte would put up with his crap. I’d think Arsenal are looking to cash in on him now, keeping him around for the whole season after a statement like that would be like leaving a tumor in just to see if it turns malignant.

  5. tool says:

    In truth plops, I think your right about the whole job bit. I will say though that it is truly annoying that he says he loves the fans and the club but after 18 months of good form he decides he is better served elsewhere. Not to mention what this will do to his sale price since everyone now knows he wants out.

  6. Den says:

    Real Madrid would never buy him. Higuain is a fan favorite and Benzema is a Florentino Perez favorite. Plus the striker isn’t even the player on the team who gets the most goals for Real Madrid. That title belongs to ole greasy hair on the wings.

  7. kingB3113 says:

    This smells of Wayne Rooney’s “United lacks ambition” saga from 2 years ago. The guy WILL sign a new contract. Wenger just needs to stop being a cheapskate about it.

  8. plops says:

    @tool, Yeah, the whole “I love this place” business is probably so they don’t all hate him if he ends up staying.

    Assou-Ekotto (sp?) said something refreshing. He basically said he’s glad he’s good at football but he’s not mental about it. He doesn’t watch every match going or go home and play PES/FIFA etc. He knows it’s a job he’s good at, earns a lot of money and is grateful. It was an interesting read if anyone can find it. I’m not sure about his club loyalty though, ha.

  9. plops says:

    @myself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beno%C3%AEt_Assou-Ekotto#Frankness I’m not sure if that’s the whole quote and I can’t be bothered to look any further, but he says on the Wiki page…

    “I have never bought into the ­hypocrisy of football but perhaps I’m more strident in my views now. I’m lucky and appreciate what I have, but football is just a job, a means to an end… there are more important things in life than kicking a ball around… Yes, I play for the money but then doesn’t everybody who gets up in the morning and goes to work? They do it to provide for their family. It infuriates me when footballers go on about playing for the shirt. I think they should be held accountable for it when they kiss the badge and six months later clear off for a better pay day.”

    Round of applause for that man.

  10. usrick says:

    A year after he leaves, Arsenal will be doing better without RVP than RVP will be wherever he goes.

  11. spurs718 says:

    LOL…

    love it!

  12. sexgod says:

    @plops,

    ah yes, Mr. Assou-Ekotto a true sex god if there ever was.

  13. jon says:

    please please please leave. 50 million for rvp would be amazing! you could by an entire new back 4! if i were a betting man, i would bet that rvp never has another season like he did last year. cash in while he is hot and use the money to improve the team. if wilshere comes back and the defense is improved, arsenal could surprise some people.

    arsenal would do well to study udinese. last summer they sold their 3 best players, sanchez, zapata, and inler, and then improved on their league position and made it to the champions league. Udinese has the best scouting network in the world right now and could lose just about anyone on their squad and replace them with relative ease. arsenal needs to be the udinese of the premier league. sell rvp, reinvest, make the TEAM better, improve.

  14. johnnyauto says:

    Glad I didn’t get an RVP jersey. I got my Nasri, & he was gone a w3eek later.

  15. Michael says:

    City fan here, and I would NOT want him to come to us. I feel that Arsenal fans are being too harsh though: he gave it his all last year, and still won no trophies.

    In my opinion the only reason RVP was so good last season was because he had to be: he was captain, and no one else was truly inspirational.

    At City, Real or even PSG he’ll just be “another top player.” Injuries, goal droughts, possibly controversy?

    I had liked Nasri before he came to us for his talent, but RVP would just injure himself and find himself scoring wonderful goals… in the Carling Cup.

  16. Nuno says:

    @jon
    50 Mill for van Persie??? With one year left on his contract you’d be lucky to get 30-35 million (and that would only be from City), but now that he said he wants to leave and won’t renew his contract, Arsenal will be lucky if anyone give them 25 million.

  17. Greg Evans says:

    Arsenal should cut their loses with want aways like Van Persie. You can guarantee that whoever he goes to he will be nowhere near as good as he was last year. And last year is a very good example of RVP time at Arsenal. Previously he was a good striker he was always injured. Suddenly he has one good season and the goals are flying in, now he thinks he’s the king of the world. He had a crap end to the season incidentally and an even worse Euros (like the rest of his countrymen).

    Its damn insulting to the Arsenal officials, players and Wenger. They could have shipped him off years ago as a useless sick note of a player but the believed in him and stuck by him. And what for the new players they have brought in to play alongside him like Podolski and Giroud, now they have got a ton of pressure on them because all the fans will expect them to score all the goals now.

    Van Persie is a man who has learned nothing from history. How many great Arsenal players have gone on to bigger a better things? Vieira? No. Petit? No. Overmars? No. Anelka? No. Henry? No. Adebayor? No. Clichy? No. Nasri? No. Fabregas? Maybe. I’m not an Arsenal fan but Van Persie is a digrace. He’s dead to me.

  18. Chris says:

    @Greg: I had no idea you cared!

  19. RyanMe says:

    Henry didn’t go on to bigger and better things? Sextuple at Barça?

  20. Greg Evans says:

    @Chris I’ve always had a little soft spot for Van Persie as he always scored some cracking goals but never real achieved his potential. Last season was pretty incredible and I thought he was starting to look like a great striker and was helping out Wenger big time. I think I’m just a fan of club loyalty and Van Persie has just shattered those dreams for me. Oh well.

  21. Greg Evans says:

    @RyanMe Henry was hardly the same player at Barcelona, he was barely getting in the team. Eidur Gudjohnsen won trophies in that team!

  22. Nuno says:

    @Greg Evans
    So? At least he won trophies. If he stayed at Arsenal, in a few years people would see how good a player he was… in youtube videos. But then would look at his curriculum and see he won nothing, so that hardly counts. Players want to win things. That’s how you measure their success. And perhaps Henry wasn’t getting in the team because he went to Barça in his 30, already past his prime.
    And Clichy and Nasri also won the league, playing regularly. Vieira exited to win the league with Juve then Inter. To me that’s an improvement any day…
    @usrick
    I bet you were saying the same about Nasri last year…

  23. rvp killer says:

    hope this traitor gets his legs broke

    arsenal are the only team with a shred of integrity left, the “he is leaving for trophies” debate is garbage

  24. plops says:

    @rvp killer Wahey, just got home from school have you? Or just come out of the cupboard you locked yourself in to have a good cry?

  25. Joe says:

    As much as I hate the petulant little shit as a Holland fan (cost us the World Cup and ballsed up the Euros, he did), I have to say that I’d do the same thing in his position. Arsenal are run as a (very succesful) business, not as a football club. The difference is that a football club’s aim is (should be) to win trophies, whereas for most businesses it is to make profit. The Gunners’ business model-reach the Champions League every year without investing more than the absolute minimun necessary, massively overcharging the fans all the way- would be hugely discouraging to any footballer worth his salt, so I could see why he’d want out.

  26. Joe says:

    Oh, and re the whole ‘club loyalty’ thing: Robin Van Persie is not from Islington. He’s not even from the country Arsenal play in. He did not start his career at Arsenal. Rather, he was brought up by his local club, Feyenoord in Rotterdam. Which he left once a bigger club came a-calling. How can Arsenal fans be pissed about him moving to a bigger club now but not about when he did so in 2004? Hypocrites.

  27. Greg Evans says:

    I feel I’ve opened up a whole can of worms here but Arsenal really need to sort some of their players egos out. It seems that the vast majority of them are very quick to move on when the going gets tough. All of the players who leave look to win things at bigger clubs where they dont have to try as hard. If those players had been willing to stay at Arsenal and put some graft in for their money then I’m sure Arsenal would have picked up some silverware in the past couple of years. But no they’d much sooner move on to bigger teams with bigger squads where they can be rotated long enough until they eventually win something.

  28. Scott says:

    Patty left to win trophies with Juve and then Inter? What about those 3 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cups? Not to mention playing on the Invincibles.

Leave a Reply to rvp killer