Ramsey hopes van Persie will remain a Gunner

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey is keeping his fingers crossed that skipper Robin van Persie will resist the temptation to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer.

Speculation over the Dutchman’s future has been rife in recent weeks with Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus having all been linked with moves for the 28-year-old in the wake of his announcement that he would not be signing a new contract.

Van Persie scored 37 goals last season, 30 of them in the Premier League, and claimed both the PFA and Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year awards, and Ramsey is hopeful that despite all the rumours, the club can retain his services.

He said: “We don’t know anything that goes on. We hope that he stays at Arsenal.

“He had a brilliant season last year and he is a big player for us, so we are just hopeful that he will stay.”

Ramsey’s comments came after manager Arsene Wenger defended Arsenal’s ambition in the wake of critical remarks from van Persie.

“We always defend the values of the club, and the model has to be self-sustainable, otherwise it can completely go out of shape and become very fragile,” the Frenchman said.

“The financial solidity of the club is vital, for me, and therefore I have always supported that and I will continue to do that. I believe that the Financial Fair Play is about that. If UEFA push it through they will have a big supporter in me. I believe that football has to work like every single company, it has to work with the money it produces itself.”

Van Persie’s sparkling form helped the Gunners to stage a fightback after a poor start to the season which saw them win just two of their first seven league games, a run which included an 8-2 drubbing at Manchester United and a derby defeat at Tottenham.

Nevertheless, the Gunners, who have added Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud to the squad during the summer, still finished 19 points behind the two Manchester clubs, and Ramsey is convinced a better start this time around could help them to close that gap. He said: “If we get off to a better start this season than we did last season, we know we are capable of finishing pretty strongly, like we did last year.

“We have brought in a couple of players who are well-known and hopefully we can put ourselves in a position to compete early on.”

Ramsey’s own preparations for the new season have been rather different this year with the 21-year-old currently on Olympic Games duty with Team GB. He said: “I haven’t been in this position before where I have missed out on a pre-season with my club, so it’s a bit strange. But it’s going to be a one-off, so I am happy to be here and be a part of it.”

Ramsey will re-join the Arsenal squad after his Olympic adventure, and will return as club-mate Jack Wilshere continues his fight for fitness.

The 20-year-old missed the whole of last season with an ankle problem and then had to undergo minor knee surgery, and his Welsh counterpart knows how difficult that can be after spending 10 months on the sidelines with a double leg fracture.

Ramsey said: “The worst position you are in is when you are on the medical bed and you can’t get out on that training pitch.

“I understand what he is going through at the moment, but he has to be mentally strong — which he has been so far — and he will be back before he knows it, playing again and showing what he can do.”