The Arsenal board know selling their captain, talisman and star striker would cause fury among the fans.
Van Persie would be 30 in 2013, is four years older than Nasri and so it will be a different dilemma for Arsenal this summer making it increasingly likely they will take a gamble on his contract situation.
Arsenal will also offer Van Persie a new improved deal in the next few weeks but the basic contract is unlikely to top £100,000-a-week.
However, they persuaded Thomas Vermaelen to re-sign with a big signing-on fee and the pair remain close – that will give Arsenal a lot of hope and encouragement.
But Barcelona, one of the major clubs watching developments, have already made it clear they will not pay "mad" fees for players this summer even if they go for Van Persie or Gareth Bale.
Barca vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu said: "Those players are very good, but we always need common sense in any negotiations.
"We will not enter the madness market but it is impossible for Barcelona to pay 40 or 50 million Euros for any player.
"This is a decision of the club. We can't fight against every club. But we have an advantage in that players want to come and play for Barcelona."
Arsenal will also offer a new deal to Theo Walcott, 22, in the next few weeks and remain hopeful he will commit himself. Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky, 31, is likely to be offered a new one-year extension.
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When this news came out, i was angry that the board would still consider giving RVP without a shadow of a doubt one of the best strikers in the world 100k????
Selling Chamakh, Arshavin, and Diaby alone is enough to keep him on a steady 150-170k and contented. For people like D and Sq( Can't bear mentioning their names, they are sure examples of how not to play soccer) they should be given free transfers and keep the wage bill low, come on Arsenal, when the fans start telling you the right way to run the club, it simply means you all are not doing your jobs.

As for the Spending issue, that's for another day....