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Van Persie holds off Arsenal contract talks

Comment: 0 September 26th, 2011 by: admin

Attacker Robin van Persie has suggested that he has no intention at the moment of starting talks regarding his contract renewal with Arsenal.

The striker and Arsenal captain, recently tagged by coach Arsene Wenger as their answer to Lionel Messi, stated that he was in no rush to begin negotiations for the renewal of his contract, which expires in 2013.

Van Persie was quoted saying that he is currently happy with his deal with the club, and that any possible talks have not been had due to the squad’s schedule.

‘I can’t look into the future,’ the striker insisted.  ‘The main thing for me is the team and that we play well.’

Van Persie’s departure would mean another loss for the club, following the departure of key players Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

The attacker currently stands as the club’s 17^th all-time scorer, reaching 100 goals during their 3-0 rout of the Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday.

‘I see similarities positional-wise [between van Persie and] Messi,’ Wenger had said.  ‘He come deep, he likes to turn up up front as well.

‘Positional-wise he doesn’t play like a real centre forward.  But when you look at his movement around the box he’s very intelligent.’

A report from the Telegraph revealed that Van Persie had approached Wenger before the start of the 2011-2012 season bringing his concerns regarding the club’s future.  This was right after Nasri and Fabregas’ exit.

‘Robin is 28 years old, arrived at 21 or 22 and we will not lose all the players,’ Wenger told the publication.  ‘We lost Fabregas [to Barcelona] not because of a financial reason but because of an understandable reason even if it hurts a lot.

‘The one which is less understandable is Nasri,’ the coach continued.  ‘That was more down to him having one year on his contract.’

Further reports indicated that van Persie had shown hesitation in renewing his contract during his last negotiation.  This was said to have been due to the striker’s concerns regarding the Gunners’ ability to bag titles.

This season, the striker has had 6 appearances in the Premier League, during which he scored 3 goals for the Gunners.  Last year saw 25 appearances, with a total of 18 goals.

Van Persie has made over 160 appearances for Arsenal, and scored 69 goals since the 2004-2005 season.

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