Arsenal Transfer News: Gervinho Speaks for Everyone Regarding Robin van Persie

It's been a trying season in North London, but Arsenal is hanging in there. The Gunners have shaken off a very rough start to put themselves in a position to finish in the top four by season's end.

It goes without saying that they couldn't have done it without Robin van Persie. He leads the Premier League with 17 goals scored. Though impressive, that figure doesn't quite do RVP justice, as he is essentially Arsenal's only goal-scoring threat on a given day.

Obviously, the Gunners are hoping RVP can keep it up for the rest of the season. But when the summer comes around, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is going to have his hands full regarding van Persie's future with the club.

The trouble is that van Persie's contract has a mere 18 months left on it, meaning the possibility exists that he will be sold during the summer. Wenger would no doubt prefer to keep Van Persie around for much longer, but at the end of the day, he has to make sound business decisions.

At least one of van Persie's teammates would be devastated to see him leave. 

"I don't want the sale of Robin van Persie. Arsenal is a team that needs good footballers and leaders on the field," said Gervinho, according to MirrorFootball.co.

Gervinho, who is currently away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, views van Persie as the heart and soul of Arsenal and a player who is a "dream" to play with.

"Van Persie is the captain and the boss in the group, without doubt," said Gervinho. "I saw that from my first day at the club.

"For me, when opponents see Robin on the other side, it is a huge psychological blow. I am always happy playing with him."

In the grand scheme of things, Gervinho's words won't make much of a difference. When the time comes, the only thing that will matter is money.

One thing we know for a certainty is that Gervinho isn't the only person in the world who thinks highly of RVP and who wants him to stay in North London for the foreseeable future (and beyond). We can take it for granted that Wenger feels the same way, and the same goes for every player on Arsenal's roster and every last member of the club's extensive fanbase.

Rest assured, this is not the last "Please don't go!" message you're going to hear regarding RVP in the months leading up to the summer. In fact, we're going to hear more and more of them as we get closer to the moment of truth.

This is, of course, assuming that Wenger can't get RVP to reconsider his current stance on contract talks. The striker put an end to contract talks in November, saying he didn't want to talk turkey until the end of the season.

If van Persie ends up leaving North London, Arsenal will be in utter disarray. In that event, the heat will be on Arsene Wenger to find a way to fix things, and fast.

He should be used to that kind of pressure by now.