Ray Parlour told Goals on Sunday that Arsenal should break their wage structure to keep Robin van Persie.
Gunners cannot afford to let flying Dutchman leave, says Ray
Ray Parlour told Goals on Sunday that Arsenal should break their wage structure if it guarantees that Robin van Persie stays at the club.
The former England midfielder said that if it was up to him, he'd make sure the club paid Van Persie wages of £150-£160k a week to retain the Dutch striker's services.
Van Persie, the Premier League's top goal-scorer with 15, has 18 months left on his contract but is reportedly unwilling to discuss new terms until the end of the season.
Parlour said that Arsenal must therefore try alternative tactics to keep their skipper!
"They've got to put a stature of him up outside the Emirates right now to make him stay because he's such an important player for them," said Parlour, who scored 32 goals in 466 appearances for Arsenal.
"That's going to be the biggest deal Arsenal have done for a while because he's been so important over the last few years.
"He's had his injury problems but this season it seems as though he has got his body sorted out and he knows what he can do in his body."
Trophies
Parlour won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup and one Cup Winners' Cup during his career but fears that Arsenal's recent lack of silverware may convince Van Persie to leave.
"Only Robin van Persie and his family can decide what he wants to do," said Parlour. "I'm hoping he is going to be like the other Dutch legend I played with, Dennis Bergkamp, who loved Arsenal so much that he never wanted to leave.
"He could have gone to Barcelona or Real Madrid, the way he was playing. The only difference then was that we were winning trophies. Now Robin van Persie has been there seven or eight years and won one FA Cup. Maybe he says 'I want to win some trophies if I can' but Arsenal is a great club, there's no doubting that.
"I think that the team spirit at the moment at Arsenal is fantastic, which is so important at a club because two or three years ago I think they had a few problems with players not talking to each other. They've got all of them out of the dressing room now and Robin van Persie has had a lot to do with that.
"Being skipper he's leading from the front. He's got good youngsters there as well coming through behind him who he can help and teach. He had his problems early on in his career but he's learnt from that and matured as a player. Now you are seeing the best of him.
"I think he enjoys playing for Arsenal so I'm just hoping and praying that he stays."
Problem
Arsenal endured a number of high-profile departures in the summer, including the loss of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Samir Nasri's departure to Manchester City, and Parlour admitted that Arsenal may also be tempted to accept an offer for Van Persie if it was large enough.
"The problem is going to be that Manchester City can blow anybody out of the water with any sort of contract," he reflected.
"If Fernando Torres goes for £50m, Van Persie's got to be worth £30m-£40m. The problem they are going to have is they can't really negotiate like they did with Torres because he had a longer contract.
"Van Persie has only got 18 months left. If they sell him at the end of the season, that's down to 12 months left. If Robin van Persie says 'I don't want to go anywhere - I'm going to sit on my 12-month contract and walk out on a free transfer' - that's where it gets a little bit messy and where the negotiating starts.
"Arsene Wenger is desperate to keep him but it's all about the owners; do they really want to give him £150,000-per-week, £160,000-per-week? I would - I think he's that important now.
"This is the most important contract of Robin van Persie's career. He's 28-year-old; this is probably the last one he's going to get so it's important for him to get the right decision as well.
"I know for a fact he loves Arsenal, like Dennis Bergkamp did, so I'm hoping he can see that. How much money do you need at the end of the day?
"I was a little bit surprised that Nasri decided to go to Man City. I thought he would have said 'right, I'm going to be the main man at Arsenal - Cesc Fabregas is leaving; I'm going to play his role, just behind the front and I could be an absolute legend at this club'.
"But he decided to go and you've got to respect him still. He did well when he was there, he made that decision and Robin van Persie will be exactly the same. Let's hope he stays!"
Turnaround
Parlour was among a host of Arsenal legends who stepped out onto the pitch to mark the club's 125th anniversary before last week's victory over Everton.
The match was decided by an incredible volley from Van Persie, who manager Arsene Wenger signed from Feyenoord in 2004 for £3m.
Last month Wenger was forced to clarify comments he made that suggested he might not be managing Arsenal last season and Parlour, for one, hopes the Frenchman remains at the helm for a good few more years to come.
"I'm hoping so because he is a brilliant manager," he said. "When you look at the turnaround since he's come - he turned up in 1997 - to win the double in his first season was amazing.
"The legacy of the new training ground and some of the deals he did. The new stadium is fantastic and I think it's all down to Arsene Wenger. I think he's a brilliant manager and I hope he stays as long as possible.
"I used to have a little muck about with him. He had a great sense of humour - people don't see that on TV. Maybe he's a little bit more under pressure these days than he was then because he hasn't won anything for six or seven years but he had a great sense of humour.
"I used to call him Inspector Clouseau because he was a walking disaster as well. He's got lots of brains but common sense-wise he did do a lot of things wrong. When he's thrown the water bottle the water's gone all over him, and things like that!
"There were a couple of occasions when he was bringing some balls in a net out to the pitch; he's trying to find the hole to get the ball out. The next minute his hand has ended up in the net, he's fallen over and Pat Rice is trying to untangle him!
"On another occasion we were playing Villa away and we were in a hotel. In the old days you put the food out and you used to help yourself. So Arsene Wenger's gone up to the dessert trolley like nothing's happened, he's got the spatula for the apple pie and as he's turning around the apple pie has fallen off his plate.
"Now he doesn't see a lot - he didn't see the apple pie fall off his plate, I promise you! He's walked all the way through the players at the table and all the players are going 'he's got nothing on his plate'!
"He sat down, picked his spoon up and he couldn't work out where it had gone! He was looking under the table and if one of us had laughed, we all would have gone!"