Should we give RVP a bumper deal?
Right, now I know that most of you will have a reflex reaction to this: ‘of course we ***** should!’. However, I think that we need to consider this decision carefully.
The arguments in favour of a bumper deal present themselves; RVP is our captain, talisman and driving force. Without him, it is anyone’s guess how many points worse off we would be. His tally of 22 Premier League goals is, quite simply, amazing. There have been few players, in the history of the League, who have achieved this. I think that the list extends to Henry, Shearer and Andy Cole. He also provides leadership on the pitch which spurs all of his teammates on. There is a visible difference in the quality of our football when RVP is on the pitch, even when he isn’t on the ball.
However, there are also arguments not to give him a bumper deal. The premier among them is that RVP is injury prone. I know, I know, we don’t like to think about it, but with his history, we must admit there is a chance that he could get a serious injury in the future. He can ill afford to get an injury which will keep him out for most of a season, especially since he only has three or four years left in him, at maximum.
Also, if we offer him a bumper deal, our other top players (like Wilshere, Szczesny and Vermaelen) will be queuing up for increased wages, and rightly so. If we offer each of our players 40000/week extra over four years, we will be an extra 24 MILLION worse off, or one Eden Hazard/Mario Gotze, if you will.
I’m not going to conclude here because, to be honest, I have no idea what the correct option is. I am, perhaps, inclined to go for a compromise, increase his wage but not by that much, so to speak.
What do you guys think?
