Robin Van Persie Visits Barcelona Hotel: Should Arsenal Fans Be Worried?

An Arsenal loss, particularly at this stage of the season, is enough to set fans' nerves on edge when it comes to discussing the future of talismanic striker and team captain Robin van Persie.

The 28-year-old has been in scintillating form this season, and though his scoring—which was once on a heating scale that would make the surface of the planet Venus blush—has dipped in recent weeks, with the Dutchman netting just once in six matches, he is still the odds-on favorite to grab nearly every top player honor in England this season and the best bet for Arsenal entering next season as a EPL title contender.

It is for that reason, not to mention many others—each time we hear a Van Persie-to-Manchester City link, a little part of us dies inside—that the news that Van Persie visited the Barcelona team hotel in London (they're staying at the Marriott Hotel on Park Lane ahead of their Champions League semifinal clash with Chelsea) immediately set us on edge.

Therefore, some calm amidst the storm.

Van Persie could have been in the hotel for any number of reasons—visiting countryman Ibrahim Afellay (which he actually did), catching up with former Gunners teammate Cesc Fabregas,or,my personal favorite, tripping Dani Alves as the Barca right-back made his way down the stairs into the lobby—but his presence was never going to go unnoticed. Fans were always going to be rankled because of this.

Now, make what you will of the fact that Van Persie made the trip in his Arsenal warm-up suit—was his glaring conspicuousness an indication that his trip was purely innocent, and thereby, did not merit subterfuge? Or does he just not care what people think in any event?

I seriously doubt the latter can be justified as legitimate reasoning behind his decision making.

Van Persie has been the consummate captain this season since taking over the honor back in August, and while his apparent "meeting" with Manchester City officials last weekend set some nerves on edge, the legitimacy of that story was always going to be called into question.

He is anything but sinister when it comes to his club of eight years. And while he has put off any talk of a contract extension until after the current season, he has never gone about spouting his potential destinations like some broken faucet.

At the very least, the City meeting, like the Barcelona one (if any actually took place) was done in broad daylight. Van Persie may simply be exploring his options. Which, as any rightful career professional will tell you, bears nothing sinister.

The Dutchman is out of contract in little more than a year. Therefore, before he decides where to sign, he wishes to take all potential options in and make the best decision possible. Nothing wrong with that, from my perspective.

While I do question the wisdom of subjecting himself to what was always going to be a major media headline (the Daily Mail never fails in this regard—read this excellent article in the New Yorker for a fascinating insight into their journalistic model) and would have preferred it had he merely popped into the Barca dressing room following Wednesday's match (I'm sure he could get tickets if he wanted to, even after subjecting the Bridge aflame with a hat trick back in October during a 5-3 Arsenal victory), he did not.

And there's nothing to be done about it now. To my mind, this is no Hleb-gate.

Although the Mail did its very best to drum up potential outrage over a move to Barcelona, there was no hard evidence to be found about any meeting between Van Persie and the Blaugrana brass.

The only witness account, actually, was of Van Persie saying "hi" to Afellay—hardly a bookable offense.

So, to answer my own question, I'd say that, "No." Arsenal fans have little reason to be worried about their star striker's Tuesday afternoon foray.