Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Gunners Must Heed Patrick Vieira's Warning and Keep RVP

Arsenal cannot lose superstar striker and captain Robin van Persie to this transfer window, and they have to do everything they can to make sure they don't.

Losing van Persie would not only be a huge blow on the field, but it would also be a huge emotional loss for the club. They be losing their best goal scorer, arguably one of the best players in the game, but they would be losing their captain and a player fans rally around.

Losing RVP would be a staggering loss for the Gunners.

While some would argue that no one player is bigger than the club—and that is true to a certain extent—look no further than these quotes from former Arsenal player Patrick Vieira, via Graeme Bailey on skysports.com, regarding potentially losing van Persie to validate the point that it would be a horrible loss:

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"I think losing Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas last year was a big shock for the people who love Arsenal," said Vieira, who is now Football Development Executive at Manchester City.

"If they lose Van Persie, it will be a drama. With Samir and Cesc you could say, 'O.K. those two are gone, but there is Jack Wilshere and Van Persie still at the club'. But if Robin leaves, who is behind?

"If he leaves, it's going to be difficult for Arsenal to keep the top players, next year it may be Theo Walcott, then Jack Wilshere. But if they keep Robin they're going to send a positive message to all the clubs and to all the people around. It's really important to keep him."

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Vieira makes some incredible points. Losing a star player is always a shock to a fan base, and it's not a habit that you want to form as a big time club.

The problem is, for all intents and purposes, it seems that keeping van Persie is going to be much easier said than done. He's obviously a hot potential transfer target, and his contract only has a year left on it, which means it's going to be crunch time sooner rather than later.

When push comes to shove, the Gunners need to find a way to keep him on their side. He's a huge component to any success they'd hope to have in the near future, so they're going to have to prove to him that re-signing would be well worth it.

Arsenal needs to take this message from their former player to heart, as it would be a huge loss if RVP isn't on their side when all is said and done.