Arsenal offer van Persie new contract

Arsenal are keen to hold onto their star striker and captain Robin van Persie and are offering him a contract that will last another four years. The Gunners hope to stave off interest from Man City.

Arsenal are set to offer him £90,000-a-week to prevent him from running down his current contract.

According to The Express, chief executive Ivan Gazidis has asked executive Richard Law to begin negotiations with the van Persie and other players whose contracts run out in 2013, such as Theo Walcott and Thomas Vermaelen, in an effort to keep them at the club or at least prevent them from leaving for a low fee like Samir Nasri or on free transfer.

Van Persie, who was made captain after Fabregas’ move to Barcelona, has scored five times already for the Gunners, with Walcott behind him finding the net on three occasions this term.

The Dutchman, however, has already made it clear that he does not want to start contract talks until the end of the season, making negotiations rather difficult.

It is believed that the striker wants to assess his options in the summer, and has no intentions of signing a new deal this season.

Van Persie, who recently notched up his 100th strike for the North London club, in their 3-0 win over Bolton had this to say: ‘I still have almost two years until 2013.

‘So, for the moment, that’s fine, but I don’t know. We will have to look. I’m happy with my contract, I’m good. That’s how it is, I can’t say much more. I can’t look into the future.’