Arsenal's Robin van Persie keeps contract talks on hold

Arsenal‘s newly appointed captain Robin van Persie has refused to commit his future to the Gunners stating that he will look into his future probably at the end of the season.

“I still have almost two years left, so for the moment that’s fine. I’m happy with my contract. I can’t look into the future. I can’t see us talking now because we are so busy. Maybe we will leave it until the end of next season,” the striker was quoted in The Guardian.

Earlier this summer, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri had decided to part ways questioning the club’s ambitions. But manager Arsene Wenger is determined to keep hold of the talismanic Dutchman.

“It’s true that we had a meeting during the summer. It is understandable that he would want that when you lose players such as Fábregas and Nasri. I don’t think we will lose him.”

Signed as a 21 year old from Feyenoord in 2004, Van Persie has become only the third Arsenal player (after Thiery Henry and Denis Bergkamp) to score a century of goals. The Dutchman was handed the extra responsibility of captaincy when Cesc Fabregas left for Barcelona. His importance in the squad can be judged from the fact that Wenger considers him to be at par with Lionel Messi.

“He is like Lionel Messi in the positional sense. He doesn’t play like a real centre-forward but if you look at his movement he is very intelligent. because of his diagonal runs. And his first touch is so good that in tight spaces he can make a difference, also because he has a very short back-lift for a big guy.”