Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners Can't Afford to Lose Robin Van Persie

Another summer, another cloud of concern hovering over the Emirates Stadium.

Last year, it was the trio of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy who left Arsenal behind for heftier salaries on grander stages—Fabregas with Barcelona (though he actually makes less there), Nasri and Clichy with newly-crowned English Premier League champions Manchester City.

This time around, it's PFA Player of the Year Robin van Persie on whose boot the Gunners' hopes will rest as the transfer window opens. The Dutch maestro has but 12 months remaining on his current contract and is scheduled to meet with Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis this week to discuss his future, according to the BBC.

The former Feyenoord striker practically carried the Gunners to a third-place finish in the Premiership and the guarantee of UEFA Champions League football that comes with it. His 30 goals were tops in the EPL, while his 10 assists placed him fifth in a four-way tie with Manchester United's Nani, Tottenham's Gareth Bale and fellow Gunner Alex Song.

He was, for all intents and purposes, the beginning, middle and end of the Arsenal attack. Should he choose to leave for greener pastures with Manchester City, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona or whichever other massive club shows interest, it will be back to the drawing board for Arsene Wenger.

Last summer, Le Professeur was left to scramble at the deadline for the likes of Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun and Andre Santos after adding Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain earlier on. The squad eventually clicked, but not before a seemingly disastrous start, during which the Gunners won but once in their first five league matches.

Arsenal can ill afford such a lethargic start in the fall if they're to claim any sort of silverware for the first time since 2005. It may be unavoidable, though, if the RVP domino falls and initiates yet another seismic reshuffling of the squad.

This, for Wenger's own job security, makes the task of convincing Van Persie to stay that much more important. The addition of Lukas Podolski should help, whether RVP stays or goes, but even he would be hard-pressed to compensate for such a crucial player.

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