Arsenal have lost Robin Van Persie for at least a month after the striker suffered a knee injury in Holland’s game with Slovenia last night. The full extent of the injury is not yet known with although Arsenal have already ruled him out for at least four weeks.

“We will know later today how bad it is but the early signs are that he will not be able to perform for us in the next four weeks” remarked Wenger today.

This comes as a massive blow to Arsenal and Fantasy Managers. Van Persie has emerged as a key Fantasy player, and has hit the form to justify his price tag in recent weeks. That has doubtless lead to thousands of Fantasy Managers scrambling to sign him up. The only plus side to his absence is that he’ll miss games against United and Liverpool, fixtures that perhaps may not have offered a massive points return. That’s little compensation however to the thousands who will now be seemingly forced to look elsewhere for Fantasy firepower at a time when it looks pretty thin in the ground. Let’s take a brief look at some of the options, it really won’t take long…

Adebayor’s stock will rise massively as a result. He’s lower in price and now assured of his place. How though, will his form be affected by the absence of Van Persie? Adebayor did hit a hat-trick against Derby without Van Persie alongside him. It was however against a beleaguered Derby defence. Eduardo is another option. He will presumably benefit from Van Persie absence with some starts over the coming weeks.

Outside of Arsenal the options are pretty risking. Rooney and Tevez are still yet to flourish this season despite glimpses. Torres has the spectre of Rafa’s rotation policy hanging over him. Drogba is pricey, plus he has only today expressed his discontent at Chelsea under Avram Grant. McCarthy and Viduka have suffered from injury and a lack of form recently. That leaves Anelka who seems an obvious candidate but could be unsettled by the arrival of a new manager and the Spurs pairing of Keane and Berbatov. Tottenham’s fixtures look promising in the coming weeks – Newcastle, Blackburn, Boro and Wigan come next. Keane then, could be the best option outside of the Arsenal pairing. Alternatively this could be the opportunity to draft in Ronaldo and go for a budget buy to fill the Van Persie gap. One thing is for sure, an injury like this can turn a Fantasy season. Suddenly things are getting a little too interesting.