Arsenal should cash in or risk losing out on Robin van Persie

"My heart is with Arsenal and I just can't picture myself in a different shirt," - Robin van Persie , 2010 "The club and I have both agreed to speak at the end of the season and see how things stand," - Robin van Persie, 2012 Anyone else think Robin van Persie's commitment to Arsenal is waning? Expect plenty of posturing and wrangling but the likely upshot is Van Persie will be wearing a shirt sponsored by Etihad instead of Emirates next season. Arsene Wenger optimistically said they will hold Van Persie to the final year of his contract should he decide not to accept an offer to make him the club's highest ever paid player, but history tells us players who want out always get the move they have agitated for, with the exception of Carlos Tevez , who blinked first in his stand-off with a club whose owner has arguably the deepest pockets in world football. With only an FA Cup to his name during his eight seasons at Arsenal, Van Persie may not be able to resist the prospect of competing for major honours combined with the huge salary package likely to be on offer at Manchester City . Former Arsenal players Patrick Vieira and Brian Marwood, who both hold executive positions at City, will not have to perform the hard sell on him. Aware his 29th birthday is on the eve of next season, Van Persie knows this is the seminal contract of his career. By the same token, his age is one reason why it makes financial sense for Arsenal to cash in on a prized asset who has one year left on his contract, as they did with Samir Nasri last summer. For a start, they will make a whopping profit, on a player they paid £2.75 million for in 2004, to invest in regenerating the team. Another is Van Persie's longevity. As remarkable as this season has been, Van Persie's statistics suggest this has been his annus mirabilis. Last night's game against Newcastle United was only the second time he has made more than 26 league appearances in a season. Wayne Rooney has done so in each of the past eight campaigns while Didier Drogba has featured in 29 games or more four times in the same period. Van Persie has scored 25 league goals and counting this season. His previous best tally was 18 and then 11 before that because he rarely plays a full season. In the past six years, the forward has suffered a broken toe, a fractured metatarsal, three problems with his knees and two ankle injuries. If players become more susceptible to injury as they get older then the medical insurance premium for Van Persie, who turns 30 next year, could start to soar. An extended season at the European Championships, where Holland are expected to reach the latter stages this summer, will only increase the chances of injury as fatigue can result in a loss of neuromuscular control, according to Mick McDermott, the Iran fitness coach. A season after Cesc Fabregas joined Barcelona, the prospect of Van Persie following Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri on the well-trodden path from north London to Manchester is an unpalatable one for Arsenal fans, particularly as Van Persie has a stronger bond with the club. But the more pragmatic among them will seek solace from the fact Arsenal lost their two high-class midfield schemers, Fabregas and Nasri, in the summer yet are still on course to qualify for the Champions League. Life will go on without Van Persie leading their line just as it did when Thierry Henry, who boasted a superior goal record to the Dutchman, left in 2007. For Van Persie, moving to another Premier League club would bring no guarantee of winning silverware. Nasri and Clichy swapped the red corner of north London for the blue corner of Manchester in the summer, yet Arsenal progressed further in both the Champions League and the FA Cup. Indeed, both teams could yet finish the season with only automatic qualification for the Champions League. Van Persie's reluctance to sit at the negotiating table with Arsenal could be a tactic to force the club to buy new players, secure the future of Arsene Wenger and pay him something closer to his market value. Arsenal will know what City can offer and Van Persie's representatives can use this as leverage. Yet his exit seems likely and the loss of their captain and another season without a trophy will increase the scrutiny on Wenger. Some fans have called for a younger manager but Chelsea went down that route and look how that turned out. Plus, does any new manager arrive with a cast-iron guarantee of winning trophies? There are only four available each season and the spending power of Chelsea and the Manchester clubs means they have an advantage before a ball is kicked. Should the deal for Van Persie be thrashed out perhaps the Arsenal fans' reverence for David Dein, their former vice chairman, might subside. His son, Darren, will have then played a role in the exits of Van Persie, Fabregas, Henry and Clichy, players he represents. Arsenal fans will be relieved to hear Jack Wilshere, the club's crown jewel, is not represented by Dein. Follow us & Kevin Affleck

Arsenal should cash in or risk losing out on Robin van Persie

Extracting a sizeable transfer fee from Manchester City for the injury-prone Holland striker might make good business sense for the Gunners, writes Kevin Affleck.