Arsenal hand Robin van Persie media ban while on Holland duty

Posted Saturday, May 19, 2012 by theguardian.com

• Ban on interviews reflects Arsenal's anxiety over striker
• Fabianski hopes to 'end his adventure' with the Gunners

Robin van Persie salutes the travelling Arsenal fans after his side beat West Bromwich Albion on the last day of the Premier League season.

Arsenal's anxiety over Robin van Persie's next career move has been reflected by them barring him from talking to the press while on international duty.

The striker travelled to the Netherlands on Thursday to begin his national team's preparations for the Euro 2012 finals but Dutch reporters, who are used to a relaxed relationship with the players, were told that Van Persie was the only one who would not be addressing them.

"We made a deal with Arsenal and he won't talk to the press," a spokesman for the Dutch Football Association, the KNVB, said.

Arsenal are fretful that Van Persie, the talismanic captain, will ignore the new contract they have offered him and seek a fresh challenge. The player, who turns 29 in August, is determined to win a trophy and he has gone seven years without one at Arsenal.

He met the club's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, and Arsène Wenger on Wednesday to listen to what they had to say, in terms of money and ambition. The manager was on record as saying that he wanted to resolve the situation before Van Persie linked up with Holland, partly to help his drive for new signings. He has already signed the striker Lukas Podolski from Köln.

But Van Persie, who has 12 months to run on his contract, has made it clear that he has no intention of re-signing at the moment as he waits for offers to crystallise from his various suitors. Manchester City and Juventus have a firm interest in Van Persie. The Professional Footballers' Association's Player of the Year and the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year would relish an offer from Barcelona.

Lukasz Fabianski has meanwhile told Polish media that he wants to leave Arsenal after months of watching his compatriot Wojciech Szczesny from the bench.

"I hope that my adventure with Arsenal has come to an end," Fabianski told Friday's Gazeta Wyborcza. "I intend to leave and play in a strong league. I wanted to leave in the winter, too, but Arsène Wenger did not give a green light."

Fabianski, who has 20 caps, was named the Polish league's top keeper in 2006 and 2007 during his time with Legia Warsaw. He joined Premier League Arsenal five years ago but has not been able to secure his position due to injuries and some conspicuous errors.

Poland's coach, Franciszek Smuda, has called him up to the provisional 26-man squad for Euro 2012, which the country is co-hosting with Ukraine starting next month, but Fabianski is expected to play second fiddle to Szczesny again.