Robin van Persie has urged Arsenal to empty their pockets for quality players in order to keep pace with English Premier League rivals.The Gunners have been on the wrong side of much transfer speculation during the close season, with a host of names – including Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy – linked with exits from the club.
Clichy’s move to Manchester City has already gone through, while Fabregas is believed to be destined for Barcelona and Nasri is expected to sign at a rival English club soon.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger finally got moving by securing Ivory Coast striker Gervinho from Lille on Monday, for a reported fee of 10.6 million pounds.
Though he acknowledges Gervinho’s signature is a positive start, van Persie is adamant the manager needs to spend much more if the club are to be serious challengers in the 2011/12 season.
“These days, proper players cost money,” Van Persie told The Mirror.
“Sometimes you see players go for loads of money and you think, ‘Is he that good?’ It needs to be seen. Most of the time, they are.”
“But the main thing is it’s not just a label, ‘multi-million pound signing’, it’s more about the quality. If you buy a player who has got one year left normally he’s not going to be worth 40 or 50 million, he’ll be a bit less.”
“So it’s not really that you get a clear picture of how good someone is when you play a lot. It depends on loads of things.”
He added: “You need investment to keep up because, when you look around, Man City is buying loads of good players, Liverpool are doing it now, Manchester United have been doing it for years.”
“So, in a way, you need to keep that up, because if everyone is doing something you need to do it as well.”
The Dutch striker was another reportedly headed for the exit after the 2010/11 campaign, in which the club failed to get their hands on any silverware despite being on target for a domestic treble.
While the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are targeting the Champions League this season, Van Persie says the Gunners need to be less discerning and take whatever they can.
“The very least for us is to win something,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what it is.”
“It’s time to win something now. Hopefully we can achieve that this year.”
