Just hope the management don't underestimate the impact robins departure would have on the fans

noones on six figures a week, yet our wage bill is relatively large. too many crap players soaking up good wages. playing hard ball with rvp in light of this would rank among the dumbest things the board has done

Of course the other school of thought is that he owes us, Wenger stuck by him all those years he suffered injury after injury.
Well he's certainy paid us back this season, it would be nice if he decided to give us another, but I wouldn't blame him if he moved on.

Playing hardball can also impact negatively on his performance. Even with RVP having his most productive spell with us in front of goal over the last 2 seasons, we have still been limping towards 4th place finishes. We have been very dependent on him to carry us over the line and while I believe he loves Arsenal, if the club's stance towards him leaves him unsatisfied, that could potentially have a detrimental effect on his game, which would not bode well for us. Also the potential is there for him to sign a pre-contract next January. The other factor is that he has obviously had his injury problems in the past. Fortunately for us, he has survived the season so far, but he may be unwilling to push himself as much physically next season if he thinks it might lead to injury scuppering his chance to strike the most favourable deal as a free agent.

He should retire from international football, he could see the most productive years of his career ahead.

Biggus wrote:

Of course the other school of thought is that he owes us, Wenger stuck by him all those years he suffered injury after injury.
Well he's certainy paid us back this season, it would be nice if he decided to give us another, but I wouldn't blame him if he moved on.

They didn't do it out of charity though did they?
You could suggest they did it because they recognized he was quality that they could not sell for big money that he's worth because of his injuries, and it also gave them a reason not to spend heavily on another attacking player.
As usual the decision was more finance than football oriented.
They needed to get a great season out of him to increase his value and their profit.

if Robin's sale was part of a long-term effort to renew a failed squad with better players, would it be so terrible to lose him now?

No, I would sell him tomorrow. Unfortunately, we won't get a significant amount for him now and goalscorers are a rare commodity commanding ridiculous transfer fees.

Continuous renewal has not served us well over the past six years.
As for

My concern is this - should we be giving a new, enormous contract to a player with a questionable injury record; who is, like Henry was, at his peak and who is only going to decline in the coming years; and who's value is only going to depreciate, if he were to leave after 2012?

In short, is there not a worry that we've already seen the best of van Persie? Should we cash-in on our asset at the peak of its value, rather than trying to squeeze potentially lower returns out of it, at a higher maintenance cost? If Robin's injury-problems were to resurface, we could be faced by a nightmare scenario where we do not have the potential funds of any RvP transfer to re-invest in the squad, and where his huge wages could become a burden to the club's ability to grow.

Why's he worried? That's exactly how management will view the situation.
Wenger spoke frankly about exactly this type of decision before Christmas.
As for the re-investment of potential transfer funds :hmm:
As for Robin being awarded huge wages 😆

I agree, it's more or less the technocratic reasoning we imagine the board and Wenger use at times like these.

However, it's at least worth keeping the likelihood that we are now experiencing Van Persie's career best season, and the possibility of further injuries and a decline in form in mind.

Wenger used to be a keen judge of such issues, but his ability is impaired. I'd assume that we will keep Perse no matter what.

Nah. We can´t afford NOT to sell him has he not signed a week after the Euros. RVP will be 29 this summer, not 33! Even in this market, with a year left on his contract, we should at least get what we got for Nasri, £25m. We are in no position to willingly say no to that kind of money. If we are not to be competitive we may as well be so without RVP.

Don't you think they'll take into account the damage done this summer by allowing Nasri and Cesc to leave?

No I don´t.

Biggus wrote:

He should retire from international football, he could see the most productive years of his career ahead.

you assuming play for us means more to him than playing for his country?

Playing for Holland there is a bigger chance of him actually winning something.

Right, because they've won so many international trophies since Arsenal's last (oh wait).

Just said there was a bigger chance. Stand by that.

Humble Rex wrote:

Just said there was a bigger chance. Stand by that.

Pretty gutsy to refuse to back away from a position that's completely unfalsifiable, Rex. 🙂

Now if you said Holland would win the Euros or the World Cup before Arsenal's next major trophy, that'd make things interesting. I'd disagree.