Robin van Persie: 20 Ways for Arsenal to Keep Him

Arsenal are flying high.

But sometimes lost among all the happiness and joy surrounding Arsenal at the moment is the fact that the captain—who is the most important and most skilled player on the team—is dangerously close to leaving.

Simply put, Arsenal cannot afford to lose Robin van Persie. A leader, talisman and ideal servant to the club, the Gunners have looked lost without the Dutchman at striker.

His contract runs out in the summer of 2013, though, and the clock is rapidly ticking on securing his long-term future in red and white.

How to do it? Well, these 20 ways should prove extremely influential in preserving Arsenal's one-man core for years to come.

Enjoy.

Pay Him

This one should be fairly obvious and is among the most vital to securing the new deal that Arsenal desperately need van Persie to sign.

Whatever Robin wants, give it to him.

If that means breaking the wage structure, then so be it. This is not a time to play about with the man who is by far the most crucially important to the team's success.

We're not talking about bowing to the whims of flash-in-the-pan Samir Nasri.

If Arsenal just give the man what he wants, then none of this contract business will really be much of an issue at all.

Frankly, with his incredible stature among the players at the club and his stunning ability, he deserves it.

Buy Mario Gotze

Mario Gotze is one of the best and most highly sought-after talents in Europe right now.

More importantly, though, he is only 19 years old, which is why Arsene Wenger might actually sign him.

A two-footed player, the young German possesses good speed, phenomenal dribbling ability and an excellent eye for a pass.

In many ways, he is the premier replacement for Cesc Fabregas that people have been hoping for.

By buying a player like Gotze, Arsenal would show their commitment to surrounding van Persie with top-class talent, reinvesting transfer funds and building a team that feeds him with the incisive passes that he thrives on.

Sign Eden Hazard

So, Arsene, you don't want to sign Mario Gotze?

OK, might I then suggest another stunning young European talent in Eden Hazard?

Hazard is much like Gotze, but in a different position. Just as dynamic, his quickness, speed and skill on the wing have drawn comparisons with Christiano Ronaldo, and have even drawn plaudits from Wenger himself.

He would provide competition with the likes of Theo Walcott and Gervinho (who he would displace in all likelihood), and would give van Persie the premium service he would no doubt appreciate.

And, with the big-money sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, his near £40 million transfer fee would be affordable, as would that of Gotze.

Win a Domestic Trophy

How could you go wrong with this one?

Nothing entices a player more than silverware, and nothing would call Robin back to the Emirates Stadium more than lifting his first trophy as captain and breaking the Gunners' infamous trophy drought in the process.

Whether it is the League Cup, FA Cup or even the grand Premier League trophy (a guy can hope), there are few stronger arguments to be made in favor of re-signing than cold, hard silverware.

Hey, it very well might have worked for Cesc.

Win the Champions League

Yes, I know, just go out and win the Champions League, simple as that.

Laughable? Ludicrous?

Not at all.

Every player craves the famously big-eared trophy, and it would go a long way toward showing van Persie the ability of his teammates.

After all, who wouldn't want to leave a team that is capable of winning the one competition that every player wants to win so badly?

I admit that it is not likely, but it is possible.

Qualify for the Champions League

Ambitions too lofty?

Alright, let's step down a peg and focus on a smaller but perhaps more important goal.

It would be nice if Arsenal could qualify for next year's competition by winning this year's edition, but for now they must focus on simply finishing fourth.

The impact of not doing so would be enormous.

Robin would feel the need to move elsewhere to play in the prestigious competition, and Arsenal would lack the transfer funds to pay the transfer fees of the premier players needed to show their ambition and improve the squad.

Or Arsenal could just win the Champions League. That would be fine too.

Play van Persie as a Second Striker

It may be a bit hard to realize when van Persie is scoring goals at such an astounding rate as he is at the moment, but his game is actually more suited to playing "The Bergkamp Role."

That is, Robin is a second striker—a true No. 10, just as Dennis Bergkamp was.

He is just as good at distributing the ball and supporting another striker as he is at just scoring goals.

He would surely appreciate being in a system that wouldn't burden him with the slightly unfitting role of centre-forward, while also giving him added support to do what he does best—score goals with that magical left foot.

Play the Bergkamp Card

Speaking of Arsenal's non-flying Dutchman, van Persie could play the exact same role for the Arsenal team of today and tomorrow that his predecessor did a few years ago.

By that I mean the role of wise, veteran leader.

Van Persie could mentor younger players as he gets older just as Bergkamp did with him when he was finding his way in the game.

He is already having this sort of impact, leaving Carl Jenkinson starstruck, as Robin himself surely was when meeting the great Dennis.

Presumably, this would have a great impact on van Persie's mind as he weighs his options. The opportunity to follow in the exact footsteps of his idol would likely be too much to resist.

Buy a Credible Backup

There are other ways Arsenal could take the striking burden off of their captain, as well.

As is well-known, van Persie is one of the most fragile players in world football, although he concedes the title to Owen Hargreaves.

So lessening the minutes he plays is essential to protecting the most prized asset on the team.

And if and when Robin does go down, a player like the pictured Lukas Podolski could prove to be extremely valuable in making sure the attacking force of the team remains at least mostly intact.

More importantly, van Persie himself, the man we're trying to woo, will be very appreciative of this commitment to support and protect him and a team built around him.

Rest Him

As previously stated, some parts of Robin van Persie's body unfortunately seem to be made out of glass.

A very effective way to reduce the risk of injury is to reduce the amount of stress on his body, which can only be achieved by lessening the amount of minutes he plays.

As for the mind of the player, he has already stated that he is happy to be rested if it means being better prepared physically for games in which he does play, while reducing his risk of maiming himself.

And by doing that, van Persie lengthens his career and his period of maximum production.

So, ironically, it might be promising less playing time that helps get the player to stay.

Hire a Defensive Coach

Yes, I know that the Arsenal defence is rapidly improving.

But should confidence be lost or a change in tactics be required, van Persie would be more confident in his side's ability to win if they had a credible defensive coach.

When Arsenal struggled earlier this season to get themselves together in defence, culminating in the horrendous displays at Old Trafford and Ewood Park, they would have been helped tremendously by such a coach, who would solidify them and put them in their place.

The security blanket of a Martin Keown or Steve Bould would do well to convince Arsenal's best attacker that matters at the other end of the pitch are sorted out.

Let Him Suggest Players to Buy

Last summer, as Rafael van der Vaart's talents were wasting away at Real Madrid, his compatriot Robin van Persie suggested to Arsene Wenger that Arsenal buy the Dutch maestro.

There aren't a whole lot of people who wouldn't have been happy with that move for the pennies it cost Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal would do well to act on their star player's suggestions in the future.

Not to give van Persie the role of director of football, but it would surely make the star much happier to see that his wishes were being taken seriously and evaluated.

In the end, it does make a lot of sense that van Persie would be happier around players that he suggests.

Sign His Friends

Why am I showing a picture of two apparently irrelevant Real Madrid players?

Well, when Mesut Ozil was signed last season from Werder Bremen, Sami Khedira was signed as well in order to provide chemistry and because the two are friendly, due to their common nationality.

The point is, a player is generally much happier at a club when he gets to play with his friends. He becomes more settled, more relaxed and a better footballer.

For proof of the huge impact that this can have on a footballer, one only has to look at Cesc Fabregas.

He yearned for a move back to Barcelona in large part because he wanted to be with all of his friends again.

Arsenal could get the reverse effect by bringing Robin's friends to his doorstep, within reasonable limits.

Keep His Friends

Returning to the case of Fabregas, a large reason why he did stay for as long as he did, despite the lure of his homeland, was the continued presence of Tomas Rosicky at Arsenal, his best friend at the club.

And a prime reason why Rosicky was not sold, despite being injury-riddled at the age of 30 and seemingly deadwood, was because he was needed in Arsenal's desperate attempt to keep their captain.

Even though this sadly didn't work for one more year, the same principle can be applied to Arsenal's current skipper.

By retaining his best friends, whomever they may be, it will be much harder for Robin to walk away from the club, which he knows can provide that wonderful gift of friendship.

Re-Sign Theo Walcott

Incidentally, one of van Persie's best friends at the club is his attack partner Theo Walcott.

Over the years, the two have developed an almost telepathic relationship, with Walcott consistently feeding the striker with low crosses and intelligent balls into the box.

The two really feed off each other when they play together.

If Arsenal were to lose the services of Walcott, van Persie would not only lose a friend, but a huge source of his production.

It would also show Arsenal's lack of commitment to keeping their star players and retaining the best performers on the team.

This would be an especially grave mistake if the Arsenal brass let this one slip past them.

Have Him Talk with Marco van Basten

After what the great Marco van Basten said about Robin van Persie and Arsenal this week, I believe he might be becoming one of my favorite people ever.

Speaking about van Persie's situation at Arsenal, he said,

"

Robin must not leave Arsenal...Robin is already at a big club...Arsenal have the most amazing stadium, they have a style of play, they have a beautiful shirt—in every way I consider Arsenal as the ultimate football club. It is the club where Robin belongs.

"

Superbly put, Mr. van Basten, I could not have said it better myself.

Surely a talk could be arranged between the two, with the legend explaining to the future legend in greater detail what the value of staying in the red and white is to all concerned.

Have Him Talk with Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger is notorious for being a man of persuasion.

His long, heartfelt talks with Cesc Fabregas kept him at Arsenal long past when he otherwise would have left, and his influence is mighty when he wants to exert it.

In all likelihood, such a conversation would greatly influence his current captain when they sit down to discuss a contract renewal.

After all, van Persie has known Le Professeur for a long time and has fostered an intimate professional relationship with him in that period, starting from when he was a precocious young prospect.

If all else fails, this might just be what saves the day for Arsenal.

Ask Him Where He Would Go

One of the points that may very well come up in a conversation Wenger may have with van Persie is where exactly the player would go should he decide to transfer.

Manchester City is an obvious answer these days.

But unless they plan to play a 2-2-6 formation, they cannot possibly accommodate more strikers in their squad.

Where, then, could van Persie go that would be so much better than the club he is at now? The club where he is settled, in the city where he and his family live?

There are few good answers.

Match Any Wage Offer

Presumably, any place Robin would consider moving to would enter his mind because of the higher wages they could offer him. There is an easy way to solve this problem:

Match them.

Sounds crazy? Not until you look at the tens of millions of pounds that Arsenal still have in their coffers right now.

Unless Manchester City or Anzhi Makhachkala offer some ridiculous wage of £500,000 per week, Arsenal could afford to match what any club would offer and pay what a premium signing would cost in his transfer fee.

And I think we could all agree that Robin is a premium player at the moment.

Do I hear, "Like a new signing," anyone?

Show How Much the Fans Appreciate Him

In this cold, money-driven football world, it is sometimes easy to forget that people can indeed be swayed by emotion and gratitude.

Robin is a modest person, and certainly not a mercenary like Carlos Tevez or his teammate Samir Nasri.

No, the Dutchman is more humble and, indeed, more human than that.

I'm sure he knows already, but if he were to see a unified public display or a video of some sort showing the universal appreciation and adoration that fans have for this mere mortal (or is he?), it just might go further than you think in persuading him to pen a new deal.

Because, let's face it—everyone loves to be loved. And nowhere will Robin van Persie be more loved than at Arsenal Football Club.