With Arsenal skipper and talismanic striker Robin van Persie coming out openly and stating that he will not be signing a new contract extension with the club and will leave once his contract expires at the end of next season, following an altercation with manager Arsene Wenger and the management and board members of the club, one begs to ask whether it is indeed a fact that the French manager has lost the plot. Over the last few seasons, starting from 2008, The Gunners have seen many star names depart for greener pastures and to win trophies. First it was legendary striker Thierry Henry who left in 2008 to join Barcelona, followed by defender Kolo Toure and striker Emmanuel Adebayor, both of whom left to join the revolution at Manchester City. This was followed by the departures of midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who returned to boyhood club Barcelona, having grown frustrated at the lack of silverware at the Emirates Stadium and he was followed out of the door of the Emirates by French pair Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy, both of whom joined City.

The consensus among the players at the time of their departures should have rung the warning bell in the ears of Arsene Wenger, but it didn’t and Arsenal suffered their worst defeat for almost decades at the hands of Manchester United when they were thrashed 8-2 at Old Trafford, just a few days after the departures of Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy. This led Wenger to spend some money in transfer market and he brought in German international defender Per Mertesacker, Brazilian left back Andre Santos and Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta. Although that was a temporary solution for a club of the stature of Arsenal, other than Arteta, the two defenders hardly got a game for The Gunners and in spite of finishing 3rd in the English Premier League and securing a UEFA Champions League spot, fans and pundits had given most of the credit for this success of the club to van Persie who had scored a staggering 37 goals in the season. In fact, many had even started mocking Arsenal, calling them Robin van Persie FC and for a self respecting man like Wenger, such comments must have made its mark.

But that was not to be and other than buying Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, The Gunners have not been much active in the transfer market, leading van Persie to make that statement. Although Arsenal has a brilliant youth policy in place, there are times when experienced professionals are required to help the youngsters make the step up but Wenger is adamant that there is no need to spend on the team.
Having not won a single trophy since 2006, Arsenal must restore the faith in their fans but for a board and a manager who are hell bent on making profit and keeping the team on the brink of competitiveness, splashing the cash and fighting for trophies is not just important anymore as Arsenal fans wait for another agonizing season to start.