First of all, now that the Premiership season is finally over, I have started betting instead on American sports like the NBA and the MLB. If you want to join me then check out this top US Sportsbook here. Meanwhile us Arsenal supporters will have to simply put up with transfer rumours and othe conversations about our great club!
The big transfer story is of course whether Robin Van Persie will be leaving Arsenal, and today the Gunners legend Jens Lehmann seems convinced that Arsene Wenger will be selling the Dutch hitman if he can get his perceived market value out of the buying club.
“Robin is now 28 and this will be his last big contract. He has to consider everything,” said Lehmann. “Arsene Wenger was always a master at buying and selling players at the right time. He still has the quality to evaluate the real value of Robin van Persie.
“He always considers the past value of the player and the future value of the player.
“Of course it would be a good sign for the supporters if Robin stayed, but when you consider his next contract could be four years, he would be 32.”
Wenger has proved that he can squeeze the last penny out of clubs like Man City (when he sold Adebayor and Nasri), but should the sale of a player (and Arsenal captain) like Van Persie be down purely to a matter of economics?
Let`s get one thing straight, it was van Persie who started this saga, for whatever reason.
Having stated his demands it is up to Arsenal (not necessarily Wenger)to accept or reject them.
Personally I think economics and good financial sense will rule the day and Wenger should set a sale price.
The sale of RVP should not be down to economics but down to reality of life. If we can get #35m for RVP, i think we should let him go provided the whole fund will be reinvested into bringing in a world class striker and a world class creative midfielder. And if we are lucky, we might get a quality right full back from the balance. With all in place we can be guaranteed of something next season. My concern about RVP is as follow: what if he get injured from Euro2012 then we will have to keep up with him and of course no one will buy an injured player. What is the possibility of RVP staying fit for another full season or having the same momentum as this last season?
Sorry Soloman, Arsenal will not get 35 mill for RVP, more like 10 – 15 mill for him. Yes we should sell him last season was a fluke he didn’t get injured. AW should grab the money and buy someone else.
The key here must be simply whether Van Persie wants to leave. He already knows his intent. This is his final big contract and naturally he will want to secure the best possible terms. However, these negotiations must not be allowed to linger on indefinitely. He must accept or refuse Arsenal’s best offer, otherwise he will be transfered early during the Summer Window. Arsenal will receive a fair price, obtain a replacement and soldier on.
End Of…
Totally disagree with the comments befoe me.
Arsenal should hold on the RvP for 2 reasons:
1) To hod the player to his contract shows other club that Arsenal are NOT a selling club – wuld be a step towards stopping this farcical will they/won’t they every summer;
2) If there is to be a serious bid for success, we need to get additions to the quality players we have, NOT replacements.
There are funds, if you look over the accounts since moving to the Emirates a profit has been made each season (be it due to gate / tv / transfers / property). Take away the various forward costs (interest / running & maintenance etc) and there is a balance that allows purchases – not to the silly scale of some others, but never-the-less……………..
We are unfortunately a selling club but when you think of it there are really only 5 or 6 clubs presently we funnel to:
Man City, Chelsea, R.Madrid, Barca, Milan and Anzhi Makhachkala (Italian clubs are questionable here).
Once they are full then no more worries. In reality, it might just be fun to win on team play and technical tactics, which in my view would reflect some basic understanding of a defensive strategy which incoporates adapting to different situations.
Kroenke making sure Arsenal will be tuned for CL qualification and 70+ pts in PL. RvP is a hard one because Podolski can realistically be expected to score half as many goals in his first season as RvP did just now so if RvP is going, the replacement must be able to score as many as Podolski plus the goals scored by whoever player he is displacing, e.g. sum of Gervinho/Arshavin etc. on left side of attack. Such player may cost something between RvP and Podolski so Kroenke/Wenger may well be tempted to do it at the right price for RvP and the price of whoever that replacement is. If less goals are conceded next season based on the improvement we saw in the second half, the RvP replacement may not have to be quite such a prolific goal scorer. On balance the risk is definitely for cheap scating, and sadly with boring football (same goal difference but less goals scored and conceded) as a result. Cynically, look forward to another trophyless season…
£10-15 million for RVP…ahahahahaha. 37 goals, players player of the year, writers player of the year, worth less than Stewart Downing who had 0 goals and 0 assists. Man City are trying to play hardball but RVP will definitely not be sold for £10-15 million.
£25+ million.
@ mystic,
In the hard financial world (of football) in which we live, there is simply no longer room for sentiment. There is little point in keeping a player who wants to leave his employer. Contracts mean little these days, unfortunately and unless or until the Bosman rules are changed, the final year of a player’s contract becomes one of frenzy, speculation and disruption.
To hold a player to the final hour of his contract on a point of principle sounds fine but the loss of many millions of pounds doesn’t make sense in today’s economic climate.
Reality must win every time, I’m afraid.