Arsenal to risk losing Robin van Persie for nothing but club still hopeful of tying him to new deal That calculation, particularly as Champions League football is worth around £30 million to a club, will be very different with Van Persie. As well his obvious goalscoring feats, Van Persie's leadership this season in the Arsenal dressing room has been crucial. Manchester City were the first major club to publicly signal their interest this week, with manager Roberto Mancini stating that Van Persie was the sort of player who would be wanted by any leading team. Wenger was unhappy last summer when Mancini talked openly about Nasri but there is an appreciation at Arsenal that these latest comments were rather less provocative. Indeed, Mancini did also predict that Van Persie would stay at the Emirates. Ever the optimist, Wenger still believes that Van Persie will agree a new long-term contract this summer and, as well as a financial package that will include a huge loyalty bonus, Arsenal are keen to make decisive statements in the transfer market. They know that they must also convince Van Persie that Arsenal can genuinely compete to win the Premier League next season. That process began this week by reaching provisional agreement with Cologne on an £11 million deal for Germany striker Lukas Podolski. It has emerged that there is late competition from Anzhi Makhachkala, who would be able to offer Podolski around double his wages, but the 26 year-old does remain committed to joining Arsenal. Podolski has provisionally agreed a four-year deal worth around £90,000 a week at Arsenal. As well as Podolski, Wenger had been told that there is money available for further reinvestment this summer, although that will also be channelled towards existing playing contracts. As well as Van Persie, Theo Walcott is out of contract in 2013 and will finalise his future this summer. Tomas Rosicky, who has so excelled over the past month, will be offered a one-year extension to his current £60,000-a-week deal. There will also be an overhaul in other areas of the squad, with Arsenal open to offers for Nicklas Bendtner, Manuel Almunia, Sebastian Squillaci, Denilson and Andrei Arshavin. The future for strikers Marouane Chamakh and Ju-Young Park, who have made such minimal impact this season, are clearly also uncertain. Removing these sort of players from Arsenal's wage bill will be a crucial step in releasing further funds for Wenger.