Arsenal Transfer: Why It's Better to Sell Robin van Persie Now Rather Than Later

Recently, the unfortunate news regarding Robin van Persie's fate at Arsenal was revealed. The Arsenal Dutchman decided that he did not intend on extending his contract with the Gunners. This has come as a disappointment to both fans and teammates.

This means that the longest van Persie could stay with the Gunners is until the end of the 2012-2013 season. 

This news is music to the ears of teams such as Manchester City, Juventus, and Manchester United, who are all interested in the prolific scorer. 

With this, clubs are preparing various bids for the players. The price range for which van Persie might be able to be purchased for is somewhere in between £20-30.  

So, we know that van Persie is likely to leave. It was reported that Wenger would have a heart-to-heart discussion with the Dutchman regarding his future, but the likes are that he is still going to leave because he doesn't agree with the future strategy of Arsenal (Sky Sports).

With this, van Persie could either leave this summer, and Arsenal could get a good amount of money. Or, he could leave at the end of the coming season as a free transfer.

There are two potential sides to this.

The first scenario, is where van Persie stays with Arsenal until the next season. This would be something risky to do; he might be in a prolific goal-scoring form, but he is a player that is very prone to injuries.

So at some point, van Persie might receive an injury that ends his season, and then by the end of it, he would have to leave for free, without having left much of an impact on Arsenal's 2012-13 campaign.

However, he might not receive an injury, and there is a possibility that he could continue to score many goals next season.

Despite that, it is too much of a risk to take, and by the end of the season when he will have to leave, Arsenal won't receive any money for him, eliminating the possibility of strengthening the squad as effectively as Arsenal could do if they got money from the transfer.

The other scenario would be the case where Arsenal manages to sell the Dutchman for a price in between £20-30 million. Then, Arsenal would be provided with the opportunity to reinforce their squad with an extra striker, an additional solid defender, or midfielder. Ultimately, they could strengthen their squad somehow.

In the Daily Mail, it was reported that Arsenal had scouts watching Borussia Dortmund striker, Robert Lewandowski, and Fiorentina forward, Stevan Jovetic. (Here is more about Lewandowski and a potential move to Arsenal.)

They are both two young, promising talents who have big futures ahead of him. If Arsenal could sell van Persie, then that would open up an opportunity for a look at the long run with young, true talent.

This transfer isn't guaranteed, but there is a higher likelihood of it occurring this summer with van Persie leaving than next summer with van Persie leaving.

Arsenal have also been heavily linked with Rennes midfielder, Yann M'Vila and have also been interested in Newcastle man, Hatem Ben Arfa. Both of these players could add so much to Arsenal in terms of passing and dribbling. 

M'Vila's fate doesn't depend on van Persie's departure as much; in the Daily Mail, it was reported that M'Vila wants to go to Arsenal. For Ben Arfa, nothing is sure, but something could develop eventually.

It was also reported in Fox Sports that the Gunners are also linked with French goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris. This keeper is very talented, and if he were to come to Arsenal, he could provide competition for Polish star, Wojciech Szczesny. In addition, Arsenal would always have a talented keeper to play, in case of injury.

In the 2010-11 season, Arsenal found themselves playing with Manuel Almunia at one point, Lukas Fabianski at another, and Szczesny to finish the season. 

There are many potential players linked with Arsenal who could end up joining, but it all depends on what happens in the near future with van Persie's situation. Nothing can be confirmed yet.

Robin van Persie's departure from Arsenal this summer would help the Gunners in formulating some opportunities to sign big players.

Ultimately, the Gunners will need to start preparing for life without their star Dutchman. 

Robin van Persie would only be able to stay at Arsenal for one season if he wished, but he would have to leave at the end of the coming season due to his desire not to extend his contract.

It would be better to adapt to van Persie's departure sooner than later with other clubs strengthening up. With the money that Arsenal could acquire, they could sign players to help move on from van Persie's departure and try to compete with the other big title contenders.

Robin van Persie could stay at Arsenal for his ninth, and final, season with the Gunners, but there would just be too much risk with that decision, such as injury; in addition, Arsenal wouldn't get the money that would come with a transfer from this big player.

This would mean that the possibility of making some big transfer in the next summer becomes less likely.

The logical choice to make here would be to sell him now.

So, do you think Robin van Persie should be sold now, or later?

Thanks for reading!