Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has finally said that he expects Robin van Persie to leave the club in the summer, but has assured fans that it will not deteriorate the club in any way. The Dutchman was left out of the squad that went on the pre-season tour to Asia.

He has been linked with a move to Manchester United, Manchester city and Juventus. Manchester United made their first move on the 28-year-old, who has only one season left on his current contract, by submitting a £ 10 million offer. However, it has been instantly rejected by Arsenal, who are thought to be holding out for £ 30 million.

Arsenal endured a difficult summer last season, which was very much similar to the current situation. Despite having just one year left on his current deal back then, Arsenal managed to extract the £ 24 million transfer fee from Manchester city for Samir Nasri. They are planning to do the same this time around as well. Wenger has been publicly backing van Persie to sign a new deal throughout last season, but the Dutchman recently said that he does not want to commit to Arsenal because they are not ambitious enough.

“Robin van Persie is a world-class striker. You know I am a big supporter of him. Our desire is to keep Van Persie. At the end of the day, we will do what is in the best interests of the club. We know how much we had to fight to come third last year because we missed out the start of the season. After seven games we had lost four and we have learned that for us it is vital for us to focus on the start of the season rather than on any transfers,” said Wenger on the pre-season tour to Asia.