Arsenal fans should be confident their captain will stay, but should they still be worried about his lack of public commitment?
All season for Arsenal and their fans, the threat of star player Robin van Persie leaving at the end of the season has been hanging over them.
At times it has seemed like Arsenal were very much the outsiders for a Champions League place, but right now they look to be a shoe-in.
To many, whether Robin van Persie would stay or not, would depend on three things.
Firstly, the club showing good form, and generally having the feelgood factor that was sapped away at the end of last season and last season.
Secondly, Champions League qualification, which as we have mentioned, looks to be so far assured.
Thirdly, signs of the club’s ambition in the transfer market. Arsene Wenger and the board are looking to act quickly on this, with striker Lukas Podolski’s signing almost a done deal. This signifies to Van Persie that he will not be expected to do it all on his own, and that the club are keen to move forward and win trophies.
The Dutchman also looks to be enjoying sharing Arsenal’s leadership with rejuvenated centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, who has helped inspire Arsenal to crucial wins over Everton and Newcastle.
Surely with the atmosphere better than ever in the Emirates, why would Van Persie choose to leave now?
Of course, the bubble at Arsenal could pop as quickly as it formed, and if Tottenham do overhaul them and turn around the three point gap, it will put a dampener on everybody’s summer.
But most confusing of all is Van Persie’s comments last week. He turned around and said: “‘If you look at the last couple of weeks, we showed we have a lot of character in our side, and we can be proud of that. Now we need to show that over a period of a whole year. We need to have a run like that for months and even win the ugly games.”
So if Van Persie is talking about Arsenal’s progress over the next year, surely he intends to stay and be a part of it, right?
Well that is what his comments lead us to believe. But in that case, just come out and say “I’m staying”, and be done with the whole transfer speculation circus.
If he does not want to stay, why lead supporters to think he would.
Otherwise with stories like The Mail’s weekend report that Real Madrid are ready to launch a £25 million bid for his services already coming out, it is going to be a very unsettling summer for Arsenal and their supporters.
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