Arsenal are thought to have rejected 3 bids for Robin van Persie – from Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus. The United bid was apparently somewhere in the region of £12.5 million, which is slightly derisory but clearly designed to test the water and see if there is interest from our captain. The Juve bid is rumoured to be around £7 million (which is completely ridiculous). The Italians know that they would probably be Arsenal’s first choice (as they aren’t a Premier League team), so may feel that Arsenal would accept a slightly lower bid. However, £7m is still pretty stupid. City are thought to have made an offer of £10m. (All bids according to @DarrenArsenal1)
Speaking to MUTV, Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that United have tabled a bid for RvP. Not one to pass on an opportunity to have a small dig at Arsenal/Arsène Wenger, Fergie makes it quite clear that he is unhappy that the news of United’s bid somehow got out, because he prefers only to speak about a transfer once the deal is completed.
“Obviously Arsenal have given out the fact that we’ve made a bid for him.
“We try to keep business as close as possible to us until the moment we conclude a deal. There’s no point talking about something that might not happen.
“There are other clubs interested in the player. We’ve shown an interest and that’s where we’re at at the moment.”
Then again, Fergie may be pleased that the media has got hold of the information, because his paltry bid for van Persie could simply be part of a plan to bid up the price for City.
A move to Manchester now seems increasingly likely. Very few players would have the balls to turn down 1) the opportunity to work with Sir Alex or 2) the ridiculous wages offered by Manchester City. There is also the fact that both clubs are (in my opinion) much more likely to win trophies next season than Arsenal.
There are also some reports indicating that Wenger will not include van Persie in the squad travelling to Asia for the tour. This is similar to the situation from last season where our captain, Fabregas, was omitted from the tour given his impending transfer to Barcelona. The Mirror have stated that van Persie will be left out because he is “short of match fitness.” His team was knocked out of the Euros pretty early on, and there are other players who were in the Euros who are likely to be in the Asia squad. So this ‘fitness’ story seems implausible. I think we’d all prefer if Arsenal were straight with us and admitted that our captain isn’t be taken due to the transfer. Furthermore, he should be dropped as skipper with immediate effect. What is the point of having a leader in our ranks who has chosen to leave and won’t even be with the team during the pre-season bonding/training matches?
Not sure why i’m even going to bother…. But 8 years 1 full season. Thanks for helping the champs league spot RVP. But thats about it.. Another “star” player has 1 good season and does one. Sort it out Wenger. Bring back David Dein. and get that wage structure sorted..
I think we’d all prefer if Arsenal were straight with us and admitted that our captain isn’t be taken due to the transfer.”
Yes we all would prefer that, but everybody seems to forget that AFC is a company a PLC and there are clear official rules when they can publish things, so instead of being angry with the club we love, then we should all try and be more patient and supportive.