Arsenal: What van Persie's Decision Means for Gunners' Future

Arsenal fans have been hit with the dreaded but not unforeseen news that Robin van Persie has decided not to sign a new deal with the North London club.

In a statement released on his official website, the 28-year-old told fans that following a meeting with Arsene Wenger and club chief executive Ivan Gazidis, he disagreed with their vision for the future of the club.

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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. 

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With the club now primed for the exit of their star player, where does it leave them going into the future?

The first thing that Arsenal need to decide is whether they want to keep van Persie around for another year and lose him for nothing or cash in on him now. Offers will surely be made for the Dutchman following his announcement, and it would be in the club's best interests to offload him sooner rather than later.

Keeping a clearly dissatisfied player at a club is rarely a good idea, and the fact that van Persie is club captain just serves to complicate things further. After publicly setting himself against Wenger and Gazidis' plans for the club, van Persie's position as captain is untenable if he were to stay next season. In his statement van Persie implies that their vision for the club will not succeed in winning any trophies.

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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.

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Therefore, Arsenal would have to strip him of the captaincy, but he would remain a highly influential senior member of the squad. This is a potential recipe for disaster and not a situation that any manager would relish. No player is bigger than the club, and this isn't an exception.

Secondly, if the club were to sell van Persie now, they can possibly limit the damage done to them by the sale. Ideally, Arsenal would want to sell him to a club outside of the Premier League, and by making him available now, they can attempt to control which team he goes to. Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are all reportedly interested in the striker, and Arsenal should be doing all they can to ensure that he is playing in a different league next season.

If van Persie is sold this summer, then his announcement at least gives Arsene Wenger the time to deal with the loss. This is a luxury he wasn't afforded a year ago when Cesc Fabregas left for Barcelona after the season had already started.

While it would hurt any team to lose a player of van Persie's qualities, Wenger has already made moves that will soften the blow of his departure. The purchases of Montpellier's Olivier Giroud and Koln's Lukas Podolski have given Arsenal the strongest looking strike-force they have had in years.

When the signing of Giroud was announced, BBC Sport stated that Wenger intended to "utilise Giroud in a front three alongside fellow new signing Lukas Podolski and Robin van Persie." Van Persie's departure is unlikely to change these plans too much, but an alternative will have to be found for the right hand side of the three.

This could mean the start of a renaissance in the career of Theo Walcott. The 23-year-old has so far found it difficult to make his mark at Arsenal, but Giroud and Podolski could be the perfect players to get the best out of him. After a successful Euro 2012, Walcott will come into the season full of confidence and could be a key player for the Gunners next year.

Walcott is at his best when making late diagonal runs into the box from wide positions. Having him attack the full-back doesn't work as his final ball is too inconsistent. Giroud is excellent at holding up the ball, and this will allow Theo to make the dangerous late runs into the box that he does so well.

Likewise, Podolski has the potential to work well with Walcott. The German international is in his element drifting out to the left flank and can provide more consistent crosses than Walcott. With Giroud the obvious target for these crosses, Walcott may be able to get into the box under the radar, ready to pounce on any knock-downs or defensive confusion.

Despite any possible upsides, the cold, hard truth of the matter is that losing van Persie will only make it less likely that Arsenal will be successful. Losing the 37 goals that he provided last season means that replicating last season's third-place finish will be a significant triumph.

Yet with their rivals for that spot all in transition as well, Arsenal have a very good chance of doing just that.

The club have seen plenty of major players leave the team in recent years. They have had to deal with the departures of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Fabregas, but each time the club has recovered. While it may seem like doom and gloom at the moment, Wenger will undoubtedly find a way to steer them into the top four yet again next season.