Robin Van Priceless

It has become a rite of spring (and summer) for Arsenal supporters – the endless speculation and innuendo that surrounds the possible transfer of one its prize stars. This time however it isn’t a young Catalan yearning for home, or a money-mongering Frenchman. No, this time it is the true heartbeat of the club, Robin Van Persie.

I don’t need to regale you with the exploits of said Dutchman. They are all known. But to sit here and try and explain his value, well it’s a monumental task.  His value is on all levels, financial, statistical, skillful, personal and more, incomprehensible.

More than any other player since the departure of Thierry Henry,  has there been an Arsenal player as keenly important to the club as our current Captain. That’s a pretty bold statement considering how important Cesc Fabregas was. But as we’ve seen we haven’t been completely lacking since Fabregas left. Right now, this moment if Robin Van Persie were not in this squad, I shudder to think where we’d be.

Sure it is likely someone else may have had an opportunity to step up. But the thing is, since we deal in a lot of intangibles in football it’s very hard to know if someone would have. Based on the available resources, it may be a fair assessment to think – no.

I don’t intend to get into a debate of whether or not Van Persie will sign a new deal this summer. I have my own personal opinion and I will save that till later. But right now I am going to look at what van Persie means to this club both from a statistical and intangible perspective. And with those two views derive some sort of value for the player.

Statistically Speaking

When you look at Robin Van Persie compared to the other strikers in the EPL that have made recent blockbuster moves into the league. Van Persie clearly stands out from the crowd. With the exception of crossing accuracy, Van Persie either leads or is equal to this peer set.

From a scoring perspective he has no peer in the league and with regard to chances created – showing his assist value as well, he is unmatched. He is showing a level of consistency in terms of games played, having played started in 27 of 28 EPL matches (and the 28^th as a sub).  He is scoring a goal every 94 minutes and taking a shot every 24.

To put it into perspective Arsenal have scored 57 league goals this season. 26 of them have been scored by the Captain. When they say he scores when he wants to, he almost always does. In terms of his ability and form, at this moment in time in the league he has no equal and is only being bettered in Europe by those two lads in Spain, you know them as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

(the following stats are courtesy of EPL Index – visit their site or follow them on twitter @eplindex)

The Intangibles.

Where Robin’s value exponentially increases is not based on his goals or assists but what he brings to the club in terms of his leadership and stature within the club. It’s only a few months into his tenure as Captain and the parallels to the last great club Captain, Patrick Vieira are being mentioned.

Robin is setting the tone for the club both on and off the pitch. You need only look at how he approached the Milan game in the run up and on the pitch to understand what I mean. When interviewed about the match he let it be known that Arsenal weren’t going to fold under the task. That it was mountain they built for themselves and they were ready to climb (yes, I am paraphrasing here). And then echoing the adidas mantra (he is an adidas man after all) – Impossible Is Nothing.

And while Arsenal fell short of a historic and epic comeback against Milan, from the first kick the lads were out to achieve the impossible and nearly did.

We previously discussed on YAMA how this team regardless of the stumbles and tumbles it has had this season, seems more like a team than any other since the Invincibles. There is reason to believe that this all down to Robin too.

Robin is promoting the team being together and has orchestrated nights out for members. By all indications he is easy to approach and it is obvious that he is well respected by all the current members.

Finally, there is his combative nature. Personally, I love it. It can get dicey and I was worried that it would cause him to get a red card against Newcastle but we have not had that in the club in very long while. And I think it is part of the reason why we got the label of a ‘soft club.’ Well, we are not a soft club anymore and no one save maybe our vice captain, exudes the strength and fire we’ve been lacking than Robin Van Persie.

Can one man do all this? Maybe. True, we do have some more able bodied veterans in the squad ready to challenge the younger players when they falter. But the tone in the dressing room it all comes down to the Dutchman.

The Future.

We are going to have to endure an endless round of speculation about Robin van Persie this whole run in and during the summer. We are already hearing of a potential deal being signed by representatives for Van Persie with Man City. There is also speculation that he is willing to hear offers from Milan.

I would implore my readers to not get caught up in the rumour mongering. Van Persie has always struck me as a man of his word. When speculation started to circulate, Van Persie came out immediately and stated he had no intention of talking about his situation until the summer, that right now his focus was football and Arsenal FC. Unlike a certain Spaniard, RvP did not let the speculation dangle out there like a foul mist. He nicked it in the bud early.

Still, there are those who have newspapers to sell and well, it wouldn’t be far from the realm that a person claiming to be a representative for Van Persie may have said something that wasn’t factual. (To understand what I am talking about read this great piece on agents from the Guardian. ) The real point is, until the man himself says something it is pointless listening to the press right now.

The club for their part look set to make statements of intent for the improvement Van Persie wants to see from the club. The deal for Podolski is the first salvo which looks to set off an early flurry of transfer activity for Arsenal. Bild yesterday was carrying a story that Arsenal and Manchester United had tabled offers for Dortmund’s Seji Kagawa. And there are persistent rumours around Mario Gotze, Oliver Giroud, Lewis Holtby, Mathias Suarez and Jan Vertonghen.

All of this is surely intended to show Van Persie the club are serious. Serious about competing and serious about keeping him. The transfer movement and a restructuring of his deal and the entire Arsenal wage system are all good signs.

Robin Van Persie is a special player. In my opinion the most special player we’ve had at the club since Thierry Henry. Moreso than Cesc Fabregas, Robin is integral to this club. His form and the intangibles like leadership and spirit make his value more than any other player we’ve had in such a long time. There isn’t a price in the world you can place on that.

[donate]