Arsenal have officially confirmed that Robin Van Persie will be out of action for a minimum of three weeks.

The Dutchman suffered a knee problem whilst scoring the equaliser in the Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham on Sunday. This means that the injury prone forward will miss the Premier League games against Sunderland and West Brom, as well as the Champions League clash with Barcelona at the very least.

Manager Arsene Wenger confirmed that Van Persie could be set for an even longer lay-off…

“Unfortunately, we had bad news on the scan and he will be out for the next three weeks for sure. It could be longer. The shortest delay we can imagine is three weeks [so] he is definitely out for Barcelona.”

Van Persie has been in tremendous Fantasy Premier League (FPL) form in recent weeks and this will comes as a hugely frustrating kick in the teeth to his 18.3% of owners. In his last five games for the Gunners, he amassed a quite remarkable 63 points. Since the turn of the year the striker has managed to score 10 Premier League goals in just seven games and was looking unstoppable. Predictably however, an injury has brought his seemingly unstoppable form to a halt.

We should of course expect big sales. With Van Persie FPL price having risen from 9.5 to 10.3 in just five Gameweeks, many Fantasy Managers will now have to swallow a fairly significant loss of funds. Nonetheless we are likely to see the FPL transfer market flooded with cash ahead of gameweek 29, with plenty of activity on the way.

Wayne Rooney will be the most obvious like-for-like replacement. The Manchester United forward has found some form, scoring 4 in his last four games. Other options include Fantasy favourites such as Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez, although, as our Watchlist reveals (updated today – more on that later), Chelsea’s strikers will also be a temptation given the fixtures ahead. Nicolas Anelka is perhaps the strongest option here, although security over his starting role is in question. Should Fernando Torres impress against United tonight, we are likely to see renewed interest in him this week. Lower down the price bracket, Bolton’s Daniel Sturridge will surely grab further attention – an option that will free up funds for squad investment elsewhere. Perhaps even Van Persie’s likely replacement in the Arsenal starting XI deserves consideration – step forward Nicklas Bendtner.

Maybe not. A poll is now live on your frontpage to collect your views on the ideal RVP replacement.

Shifting attention away from Van Persie, Arsene Wenger also confirmed that Cesc Fabregas could yet make the Barcelona tie as he continues a recovery from his hamstring injury.

“Cesc is looking possible [for that game]…He is making quick and good progress. It is possible.”

Given the absence of both Van Persie and Fabregas for the gameweek 29 fixture with Sunderland this weekend, we can surely expect Samir Nasri to be a prime target for Fantasy Managers. Nasri has climbed into the top five in our Watchlist and we will bring you a full article on his prospects later this week.