Arsenal fans must be spitting nails at the moment, selling another star player and their 4th captain in 6 years I think the commentator said.
25m for a injury prone 29 year old with one year left on his contract? I think Arsenal have come out best.
If he continues last years form then i think this is the signing that will regain scum the title. pains me to say it
We sold almost as many captains in one season as they have in 6. puts his departure into perspective. Used to really like him but unable to do so in view of his mmove to the industrial estate!
Ferguson and Wenger seem to be rather to friendly these days. I preferred the days when there teams were throwing pizza at each other. Regardless, you can't really blame Van Persie. At 29 he's running out of time to win anything substantial. He couldn't do that with Arsenal.
Like I said previously, I think if the money is re-invested well, it's potentially a great deal for Arsenal going by his age, contract status and injury proneness . They require a 'world class' replacement however.
City again for me. They will only get stronger now they've got the first one out of the way. Tevez/Aguero or Van Persie/Rooney? There's one for you all!
This sale is a continuation of Wenger's stated transfer policy. Sells star players in their late twenties/early thirties in anticipation of their skills starting to wane soon and allowing the club to cash in on a huge asset. One can go back and look at how many times he has done this - Bergkamp, Viera, Henry, etc. No surprise really.
I don't think he gets much of a say on things, players contracts run down, Arsenal refuse to break their structure, they can't hang on to players as they refuse new contracts and they then start struggling to win anything. They have just sold arguably the best player in the Premiership to their rivals
Don't understand it myself, Scum lost most of their games through lack of a decent midfield. Surely the place to strengthen was there, Cleverley certainly won't fill the gap. Used to rate RVP as a footballer and a person, but he turns out just like the rest:- "I dont have the inclination to go anywhere, this is the best team for me to be in. The bottom line is I want to win trophies with ARSENAL, not with anybody else. I know you can win trophies in many countries and in many different way, but I want to do that in our way I'm sure I could win things at another team in another country, but would it feel like our trophy, my trophy? I'm not sure it would. Anything we win here will come from the heart and that's what I want. It's my dream and I see no point in speaking about other teams when I have the dreams. I think other people know that about me; I'm just hungry to win with Arsenal and that's it." Robin Van Persie 20/02/2011
What else were Arsenal going to do? Keep him another year and lose a 30 year old for free...IMO the Scum paid way over the odds for van Persie. Good deal for Wenger...he has the best scouting team in England. Might be good news for Walcott ???
Maybe review their contract strategy? - When was the last time Arsenal won anything and when will the next time be? They are creating a catch 22 for themselves, can't keep the star players >> fail to win trophies >> players nearing the contract end refuse to sign new contracts through lack of winning titles..... I don't see it as over the odds, I see the likes of Andy Carroll over the odds and a waste of money. RVP will no doubt assist them in winning at least one maybe more trophies in the next 3 years, money well spent IMHO
