It is being said that Chelsea, Manchester City, Juventus and Internazionale have all been expressing their interest in the Dutch striker. However, Robin van Persie has turned them all down. He revealed: "It's not as easy to leave Arsenal as you maybe think."

Because of failing to win a trophy since the FA Cup in 2005, several players such as Mathieu Flamini have left the Gunners.

The former Feyenoord man told News Of The World: "It is good that four teams were really interested in me but I had to turn them down."

"Even if you want to leave, as a player, I don't think it is easy because when you move to Arsenal you are led there by your heart."

Van Persie is sidelined with an ankle injury since november, when he picked up the injury in a friendly game for Netherlands against Italy. At first the injury did not look that bad but it turned out being a pretty bad one. Wenger has been outraged with the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) for wronly assessing the injury.

Robin van Persie is expected to return to full training in April, so that he can possibly be of great importance in the final stages of the season. However, Van Persie did admit that this injury has hindered his progress in becoming one of the greats in the game.

"Everything starts with your fitness and some players are lucky like that," the 26-year-old added.

"I hate it but I can't do anything about it because this is my situation."

"When you look at great players, they are always fit, always sharp."

"When you play 50 games a season, you can score more goals and get more assists, so it follows that you are more important to the team."