Robin Van Persie hopes Sol Campbell will sign a new contract with Arsenal because the defender is exactly the character needed in the Gunners' dressing room.

The defender made a shock return to Emirates Stadium in January but his short-term contract expires this summer.

Talks are ongoing between Campbell and Arsène Wenger and following Sunday's win over Fulham striker Van Persie was asked if he wanted Campbell to be an Arsenal player next season.

"I hope so," he responded. "I think his character is great, he is a winner, he is honest - the Dutch way almost. In Holland, we are used to people who are direct, who say what they think and he is like that, very much.

"He is one of those characters you need in a squad - when someone is easing off he just tells you, 'listen, this is not the way to do it. Sharpen up because otherwise this isn't going to work.'

"We need that and that is why I am very pleased that he is here. When you look at when he came and the way he ended the last couple of months - fantastic.

"He made a sprint against Spurs, 60 metres, sprinting against a younger guy. There you go; that was special."

Van Persie donated £1,800 to Great Ormond Street Hospital at the Arsenal Charity Ball last week in order to win an auction for one of Tony Adams' England shirts.

The top was signed by the former Gunner and though Van Persie never played alongside Adams, he believes the new manager of Azerbaijan side Gabala FC would have been just as good a team-mate as Campbell has been.

"I never played with him but I heard lots of stories about him," said Van Persie.

"I respect him as a person because you hear stories from players and I have a friend in Holland who knows him personally.

"The stories he tells me are great. He is a leader by example but I just work with Sol, so I can't really compare them but the word day-to-day is they are both great." 

Alex Song wants to add another ingredient to his game next season - goals.

The Cameroon international would get many fans' vote as Arsenal's most improved player of the season after cementing a spot in midfield in 2009/10. Song's strength and his ability to break up play and protect his defence have been valuable commodities in such an attack-minded side.

Song has gone from bit-part player to one of the first names on Arsène Wenger's team sheet in the space of 18 months but, as yet, he is not known for his scoring prowess. The 22-year-old managed a solitary goal this season - at Portsmouth - and he'd like to improve that tally next term.

"I feel I’ve improved a lot this season, but I don’t want to settle for that now that I’m a regular in the team," Song told the Official Matchday Programme.

"I know I can do far more, so it’s my job to keep improving now. I should probably score more goals, and try to take more opportunities. People always tell me that I never shoot! This isn’t my main role – I prefer to give a good pass and that’s my first job – but I know there are sometimes chances I can take.

"If I have some space to attack I’ll do it, but you can’t do something just because you want to – you have to consider the team with every move you make.

"Every single player has his job and I know what my priorities are. I know that people might like me to push a little bit more forwards at times but I can’t do that all the time and have to select my moments carefully.”

Andrey Arshavin and Gael Clichy head a list of eight Arsenal players who could leave the club this summer.

William Gallas, Tomas Rosicky, Eduardo, Philippe Senderos, Mikael Silvestre and Fran Merida are also in line to head through the Emirates Stadium exit door.

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Although manager Arsene Wenger has been promised “significant funds” by chief executive Ivan Gazidis to strengthen his squad and does not have to fund new signings by player sales, there are likely to be some high-profile departures, with the Frenchman keen to shake-up his team.

Arshavin, who has spoken publicly of his desire to play for Barcelona, is believed to be seeking a move even though Wenger has said he would like to offer him a new contract.

The Russian, 29 later this month, has a number of concerns. He is unhappy with the team’s lack of progress during his 16 months at the club, and with the fact that he has frequently been played out of position by Wenger.

Arshavin is also earning half of what he expected to in London when he went on strike to force through his move from Zenit St Petersburg, with 50 per cent of his £70,000-a-week wages docked for income tax.

Any move could depend on a buyer being willing to match the £16.5m fee that Arsenal paid for the midfielder.

Clichy, 24, is likely to use the interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid as a bargaining tool when he sits down with chief executive Ivan Gazidis to discuss extending his contract beyond 2012, when his current deal ends.

Although Arsenal’s longest-serving player is happy in London, he is believed to be interested in a new challenge.
The emergence of Kieran Gibbs as Clichy’s heir apparent may persuade Wenger that a bid of over £10m from one of the Spanish giants is too good to turn down.

Gallas is running out of time to agree a two-year contract on his current £80,000-a-week terms, while fellow centre-halves Senderos and Silvestre are also out of contract next month and will be allowed to leave as the club aim to reduce their wage bill.

Merida, who is also a free agent next month, has agreed a return to Spain, where he will link up with Atletico Madrid.

Silvestre is believed to be the target of a number of Premier League clubs, including Blackburn Rovers, but it is understood the defender, 33 in August, is seeking a player-coach role.

Wenger is also willing to listen for offers for Rosicky and Eduardo even though the pair were given the security of new contracts this season.

Both players have overcome career-threatening injuries to force their way back into the Arsenal team but have struggled to cope with the intensity of the Premier League.

CSKA Moscow are said to be keen on Eduardo, who could cost around £7 million, whilst Rosicky is a £4.5 million target for Hamburg.

On his day Robin Van Persie is one of the most effective forwards in Europe but in many ways his continual injury problems have held back the 26 year old who always tends to be out for a significant portion of the domestic season.

Luckily for Holland the former Feyenoord man is finally back to full fitness following four months out and beginning to get back to his best. The intelligent striker has the ability to make something out of nothing and is also capable of breaking down even the toughest defence with his speed of thought and lethal finishing.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has a number of attacking options to feed both Van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar and as always much will be expected of them and given the relatively easy group they find themselves in and if the Arsenal man gets going he could well light the World Cup up with his undoubted talent.

Barcelona striker Thierry Henry has signed a pre-contract agreement with Major League Soccer side New York Red Bulls and will head to the United States in the summer.

Dutch striker Robin van Persie believes that next season Arsenal players need to be more tough if they are to win more games.

Speaking after last week’s season-ending game against Wigan, the 26-year old explained how there will be games where just playing football will not be enough to win and that is when himself and his teammates will need to send a signal but toughening up.

Van Persie, who will be one of the main attractions of this summer’s World Cup Finals, said earlier this week how he would be delighted to see striker Marouane Chamakh join the Gunners and now added how to be competitive next season – now that the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are growing – two new players are required.

If transfer rumours are to be believed, besides the Moroccan, Arsene Wenger will bring a new goalkeeper and a new centre back at the Emirates, to replace Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski in goal and William Gallas in the centre of defence.

The Dutchman said:

Quote:

I just think we need to toughen up. We need to make it clear to people: if you want to play football, we can play football. If you want to play hard, we can play hard. We can do that, we have it within ourselves, but we need to do it consistently because if we don’t, we lose points and give the wrong message. You can see the other teams are all improving. We need some here and there too, we need a couple of players and we need to go ahead with that. You look at teams like Man City and Spurs – they are all coming up now. This year was an open league, but you never know what will happen next season. I think everyone realises that we need a bit of help in a few areas.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is fully aware that the going is getting tougher in the Premiership and believes the Gunners need to keep improving to avoid crashing out of the top four.

Using Liverpool as an example, the Frenchman explained how progress is required every year as competition is getting harder and harder. Wenger also added how he is delighted with the progress made this season but explained how next year, his players will try everything to improve.

Despite making progress according to Wenger, the Gunners still failed to win silverware meaning that they just ended a fifth season without anything to show for.

According to reports, Wenger will secure the services of striker Marouane Chamakh for free during the summer transfer window and will be looking into bringing two new players for the defence, area which the Frenchman highlighted as an area of concern this season.

He said:

Quote:

The team has made big progress this season, and we want to confirm it next year. You can see that it is important to continue to progress every year; look at Liverpool – second last year, this season out of the top four. We are conscious that the competition at the top gets harder and harder, and that demands a bigger focus from year to year. We have been in the top four for 14 years in a row, but we want more – and we will try absolutely everything next year to get more.