Today I am going to attempt to disprove rumours on Twitter which suggest that Robin van Persie was/is on his way to Old Trafford to negotiate terms with Manchester United.
As we reported yesterday, Twitter was full of rumours which suggested that RvP was leaving Arsenal’s training camp in Germany in order to finalise contract terms with United. The Twitter rumours also said that the deal would be worth £220k a week, making him the club’s joint highest earner with Wayne Rooney. As far as I am aware, this news was originally broken in the Spanish press, with both Marca and ESPN Deportes reporting that van Persie could be in Manchester as early as Wednesday evening. However, it is now Friday and if the latest photos on Arsenal.com are anything to go by, our captain is still very much at the club’s pre-season training camp in Germany, warming up for Sunday’s friendly against FC Cologne.
What I couldn’t understand is how Robin could be free to speak to United when, speaking after his side’s pre-season defeat to Barcelona, Sir Alex has made it very clear that Arsenal are refusing to play ball. United and Arsenal are still nowhere near agreeing a fee for the prolific Dutchman. Seeing as I had nothing better to do at 11pm on a Thursday evening, I decided to skim through the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players in order to check the rules on player-club negotiations.
According to Article 18 (Special provisions relating to contracts between professionals and club) paragraph 3, United are free to enter contract negotiations with Robin in January and then sign him on a free next summer. He is in the last year of his contract and can leave Arsenal under a Bosman Free Transfer, something which seems to be all too familiar for Arsenal fans. Other than that, I do not think that the Reds are allowed to contact Robin with contract offers until they have agreed a fee with Arsenal – which they clearly haven’t as yet! Don’t hold me to this; I could be wrong as there were 40-something pages of dense legal material to go through.
Contract offers, however, are unimportant if Arsenal are refusing to sell to a major rival. Robin could be offered £1 million a week starting next month, but he still can’t leave Arsenal if the club don’t want him to. Whether or not the club are willing to let him leave on a free next season is an entirely different issue. Not selling to United would be a show of strength because we have not allowed the player to manoeuvre his way away from the club, but it could also prove to be financially viable. Arguably, it could be worth forgoing the £20m fee from Manchester United if we were to win a major trophy this season thanks to van Persie’s contributions. For example, the £2 million in prize money from the FA Cup seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but the fact that Arsenal would have won a trophy would give us a bit more bargaining power when it comes to future transfers. This is, of course, presuming that he doesn’t sulk and refuse to play (in which case he is being rather pathetic and doesn’t deserve any sort of respect whatsoever).
If anybody has any extra information on this situation then please let me know in the comments section below. I am sure that there must be somebody who knows more about contract negotiations than I do and no doubt others who will want to prove me wrong. I must reiterate that I am not an expert on the subject.
*Yesterday’s article in which Fergie said that Arsenal are refusing to negotiate can be found here. Sir Alex is not ruling out a move for RvP though, and promised that United will persevere.
I think you are right, more or less. The player cannot agree terms with another club unless he has been given permission by his current club.
If Arsenal don’t want to sell RvP then they won’t give him permission to leave the training camp. The Twitter rumours are rubbish.
I do agree with you, but im sure that RvP’s agent can discuss matters with another club, dont you think? Eitherway i dont see Wenger selling his Top Scorer Last season to a team that compete’s to win the title everyseason. Thats like Barcelona selling Aguero to Man Utd… Not gunna happen is it? He Will stay at Arsenal..I think when RvP disagreed with the ‘youth policy’ talks broke down… but as Wenger has been buying experienced players im sure RvP will change his mind and now believe Arsenal can win Trophies.
- TheArsenal.eu
Agreed. I don’t think Barca will sell Aguero. He is all to important for them.
I believe only foreign clubs can negotiate a possible Bosman from next January but English clubs would have to wait until his contract has expired.
Selling RVP to ManUre would be a huge betrayal of Arsenal fans by Wenger & Arsenal FC. I don’t understand how Wenger could countenance it after the vile chant treatment going back years by ManUre fans which ManUre have done nothing decisively to stop & Ferguson’s unstinting disrespect to Arsenal FC.
The point of the matter is Wenger has the decision to make: 1. Does he sell RvP for an undesireable fee of around £20m – £25m so we don’t lose a world class player for nothing in 6 months time.. or.. 2. Does he decide to keep RvP in hope that in 6 months time, Arsenal as a team and not just a managers philosophies, can persuade him to stay by some prolific performances creating a realistic opportunity for trophies.
I’m somewhat confident when I say ‘the last thing any Arsenal supporter would want is for RvP to end up at Man Utd’ and I’m also confident Wenger doesn’t want this either.
Behind the curtains I’m sure Le’ Professor is doing everything in his power to change RvP’s mind. All we as fans can do is pray that he makes the latter of the two decisions and Arsenal as a club can be strong for themselves proving that we are contenders for trophies and we are a team to watch out for.
Bottom line is: No player is bigger than a club. With or without RvP Arseanl will move on, and move on to success. It’s only a matter of time.
(p.s- Aguero plays for Man City not Barcelona…. however, I get the point)
!!COYG!!
I am at lost here, are you talking about Sergio Aguero?
Is he playing for Barca this season?
Or you were just trolling?
Great article. We need more blogs like this. Factual information and thoughtful consideration, love it.
Much appreciated