Wenger tells wantaway captain Van Persie his future must be sorted by Saturday

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UPDATED:

22:33 GMT, 17 July 2012

Arsenal want the Robin van Persie affair resolved in the next 48 hours as Arsene Wenger prepares to talk publicly about the saga for the first time.

Club sources have confirmed that the captain will hold talks with manager Wenger either on Wednesday of Thursday in an attempt to clarify the contract stand-off that is threatening to overshadow their pre-season tour of Asia which begins on Saturday.

Wenger knows he will have to speak about the issue at his first pre-season press conference when the club arrive in Malaysia this weekend.

Remember me Robin van Persie is back at training with Arsenal despite stating his desire to leave

As it stands, Arsenal are resolved to
including Van Persie in the trip, but if it becomes clear there is no
chance of him signing a new contract then Sportsmail understands the
28-year-old may not go.

The situation is so delicate the
Gunners are willing to wait until the morning of the flight to decide
whether Van Persie should travel — and if he doesn’t it would surely be
the end of his career at the club.

It is believed Arsenal are yet to
receive any formal offers from either Manchester clubs or Juventus — but
it is highly likely informal dialogue has taken place.

Van Persie spent his second day of
pre-season training on Tuesday and it is understood Wenger is happy with
the way the Holland forward has applied himself since his return to
London Colney, despite publicly declaring he will not sign a new
contract.

As reported by Sportsmail last week,
influential members of the Arsenal hierarchy feel Van Persie’s
hard-hitting statement earlier this month, confirming his decision not
to sign fresh terms, is just a ploy designed to earn a better contract
offer from the club.

Gunning for glory: Arsenal have already started their pre-season friendlies

The deal on the table is a three-year
contract worth 130,000 per week — plus a 5million loyalty bonus. But
either way, the club — who are also working on a deal to keep Theo
Walcott long-term — want the problem resolved as quickly as possible so
the team can start preparing for the new season with Van Persie in their
plans — or have enough time to spend the 20m-plus his sale is likely
to raise.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are close to
agreeing a fee with Caen for 17-year-old M’baye Niang, who had a recent
trial. Wenger wants to beat Manchester City and Tottenham to the
France Under 21 forward’s signature.

And Arsenal and Mexico striker Carlos
Vela, 23, who was on loan at Real Sociedad for the whole of last
season, has signed a permanent four-year deal with the Spanish club.

One in, one out: Caen's M'Baye Niang could join Arsenal this summer, while Carlos Vela is off to Spain

The London club’s scouting operation will go into overdrive during the Olympics as Wenger looks to unearth his next treasure.

Chief scout Steve Rowley is in charge
of the assignment to pinpoint emerging talent, and while the young
stars of countries such as Spain and Brazil will be known, scouts will
not be so knowledgeable about players from nations including Japan,
Belarus and Morocco.

Stars including Sergio Aguero,
Vincent Kompany, Shinji Kagawa, Ramires, Pablo Zabaleta, Marouane
Fellaini, Mousa Dembele and Stuart Holden were all involved in the
Beijing Olympics four years ago as Under 23s and have since joined
Barclays Premier League clubs.

And Gervinho, Thomas Vermaelen and Park Chu-Young have joined Arsenal since their involvement in the 2008 Games.