Destination unknown: Robin van Persie's future is up in the air

No-one at Arsenal is convinced that the Holland striker, who is taking a break after the Euros before meeting Wenger, intends to stay at the Emirates.

Manchester City are convinced that he will sign for the Barclays Premier League champions, and are prepared to pay him a superstar’s salary while offering the potential of silverware.

They will be difficult to budge from the top of the Premier League and with one or two additions, including Van Persie, they can also make an impact in Europe.

Van Persie was an unused substitute when Arsenal were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona in the Champions League final in May 2006.

That was the end of the cycle for a great Arsenal team, broken up too quickly by Wenger as they fell away in Europe and in the Premier League.

Pires left after the final and Henry, Cole, Fredrik Ljungberg and Alexander Hleb were not far behind.

Despite Van Persie’s top class goalscoring ratio (96 in 149 starts in the Premier League and 20 in 39 in the Champions League), he is unfulfilled.

The 2005 FA Cup medal is the only meaningful trophy he has won at Arsenal, a depressing statistic that shows little sign of changing in the current climate.

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