News of Robin van Persie’s decision not to extend his current deal at Arsenal will have come as a hammer blow to all connected to the club. The north Londoners have relied heavily on the Netherlands striker for their goals in recent seasons and if he leaves this summer, it will severely dent their chances of a top-four finish (Arsenal 4/9 Top 4 Finish).

Despite expressing his love for both the club and London throughout last season, it always seemed likely that van Persie’s days at the Emirates were numbered and now he has confirmed that he will not be penning a new deal at the club.

The main reason for his desire to move on, whether it is this summer or next, appears to be a disagreement “on the way Arsenal FC should move forward”.

Roughly translated, that means the Holland international wants to win trophies and, with Arsenal’s lack of success over the past six years, he feels his ambitions would be better served elsewhere.

That is fair enough as it is every player’s right to switch clubs when out of contract but, with only 12 months of his current deal to run, his transfer value will have fallen and the Gunners will no longer be able to demand mega bucks for their star striker.

Both management and player kept stating that there would be no negotiations until the end of the season but, given Wednesday’s announcement, that seems to have been an odd decision.

Had the 28-year-old made his feelings clearer last season, he could have been sold for a large fee in January, given that he was in the form of his life, and it may well be that Arsene Wenger decides to keep him in north London for next season to see if they can win a trophy before letting him leave for nothing.

Whatever happens, the club is the loser and it is open to debate as to whether the situation could have been handled in a better way.

It is true that Arsenal have underachieved in the past six years, with the Gunners’ faithful crying out for the Frenchman to spend some money, and Wenger has now begun to open the cheque book with the capture of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud.

The two new recruits looked set to shoulder some of the burden for van Persie and may well have operated in a three-pronged attack.

With Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain providing pace and width on the flanks, it appeared as though Wenger was putting together an exciting side that may even have challenged for the title – until Wednesday’s bombshell (Arsenal 10/1 Premier League Outright).

It is unclear how exactly van Persie wants the club to move forward, as that appears to be exactly what is happening.

Arsenal have never spent vast sums of money on transfer fees and it is unlikely, given their current policy, that they will ever land a true world star of the game.

But that is not the way that the French tactician operates as he chooses to sign young players, many of them French or north African, and develop them.

The problem has been holding onto his stars once they have made a name for themselves and a succession of top players have left the club in the past few years.

Last summer’s loss of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri was a huge blow and talk at the time centred on how important it would be that van Persie did not follow suit.

But a lack of urgency to get him to pen a new deal has left the famous club with a dilemma on their hands.

There will doubtless be a number of suitors of the former Feyenoord man, with Juventus said to have already tabled an £8millon bid.

Whether or not that is true is unknown but surely a player of his standing is worth three times that amount – or would have been last season.

If he is sold during the summer transfer window then Wenger will need to plan again for next season with Podolski and Giroud’s roles changing ahead of the new campaign.

The veteran coach will have planned his tactics around having the Dutchman up front and he may now look to bring in another front man if RVP heads through the exit door.

The sight of their hero scoring goals for either of the Manchester clubs would certainly leave a bitter taste in the Arsenal fans’ mouths and, if rumours are to be believed, he would probably favour a move overseas.

The Rotterdam-born star has been linked with Barcelona and that would make for a scary attacking force at the Nou Camp with Lionel Messi still pulling the strings and scoring for fun.

There will doubtless be rumours and reported sightings of van Persie buying a house here, there and everywhere over the next few weeks, but the smart money is on him seeing out his contract with Arsenal and, in combination with the new stars, finally getting some silverware in the Emirates trophy cabinet (Arsenal 8/1 FA Cup Outright).

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.