Will he stay or will he go? Your guess is as good as mine
Before I get started I’d like to apologise for the lack of blogging recently, I have been out with the nasty flu bug. Just like our players us bloggers can get the odd illness/injury too! Anyway its good to be back.
Robin Van Persie, Captain Vantastic, the man who “scores when he wants”. Arguably our most important player, has one year left on his contract. In the world of football, this is a critical time for both player and club. Van Persie is currently holidaying and will resume talks on his future when he returns, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to gather my own thoughts on this saga.
I’d just like to reiterate that he is indeed on holidays in the Caribbean, therefore any reports you’ve seen recently or are seeing now with regards to Van Persie have little or no truth to them. They are pure speculation/rumour. Sightings in Manchester and/or Barcelona or wherever else the media feels like are not only wrong, but utterly embarrassing and facepalm-worthy. I mean seriously, how stupid do they think we are?
Here are a few reasons why I think Van Persie is more likely to stay than not:
He loves the club and wants them to do well
The reason I believe he loves the club and wants us to do well is that he made it clear that he will sign a contract extension if he is convinced of the club’s ambition. He’s also stated that he could never imagine playing for another English club other than Arsenal. Ideally wants to win with Arsenal and Arsenal only. If he didn’t love the club, he would have handed in a formal transfer request by now.
He isn’t like Cesc or Nasri
Van Persie’s heart isn’t in Catalunya, and he doesn’t have a bunch of mates tapping him up to join Barcelona. He isn’t a money hungry c*nt like Samir Na$ri. He isn’t like Cesc who refused to play in pre-season and forced us to sell to Barcelona. He isn’t like Na$ri who made inappropriate comments in the media during his transfer saga. Van Persie hasn’t uttered a word to the media and hasn’t got the bad vibes of the players from last year, so he’s less likely to leave in this sense.
Transfer policy appears to have changed this year
The signings of Podolski and Giroud and a couple of other class signings will sway Captain Vantastic and convince him of the club’s ambition. I know its early, but we can certainly see something different about Wenger’s transfer dealings this time. Two marquee signings early in the window, as opposed to a bunch of panic buys on August 31. No sign of teenagers with “potential” this time either (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the big signings are the priority obviously). We’ve been linked with Yann M’Vila and the likes of EURO 2012 hero, Alan Dzagoev. If these are the sort of players Wenger is chasing we’ll be more competitive next season.
The positive vibes seem more legitimate
I know I’m an Arsenal fan, and you may think I’m thinking with my heart, but honestly, the positive statements seem more legitimate than the negative.
When Giroud signed he stated “I haven’t come to take the place of Van Persie”. He appears convinced that our captain will stay, and has signed on that basis.
This is what Van Persie’s wife Bouchra had to say:
“We have been in London for eight years now. As a family, we love it here. Robin is captain of Arsenal and, as many people claim, the leader of the Arsenal team. Arsenal believed in Robin when he was young and when he was considered as a bit of a rebel. We don’t want to upset things at home either. Our kids, Shaqueel and Dina, go to school here in London. And they are just as happy as we are. We still expect to sit down after this season is over and have a look at the future. We have to make some decisions at some point. But it is not just about Robin. He also thinks about us, his children and me.”
Behind every successful man is a woman.
Finally, reputable BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein had this to say on his Twitter:
“Van Persie to resume talks with Arsenal when back from Caribbean break. He’s keen to stay, with or without new contract. Ball in Arsenal court”
The negative vibes seem to be just speculation
There have been millions of things said about Manchester City, but not a single quote. Nothing of substance. There has been no offer. Nothing. Articles just full of assumptions. Each article follows this sort of a template:
Van Persie is sick of not winning trophies, not signing a contract……an inside source (which is never named, nor is there ever any quote) states that Wenger is willing to sell for £30 million……Man City will offer wages of £250,000 and better chance to win titles…..the sky is also blue…..grass is also green….a football is round
Its all basically hearsay, all sh*t we already know and the rest is just baseless assumptions. Let’s think about it rationally. This team already has a bunch of world class strikers in Tevez, Balotelli and Aguero. Let’s not forget Adebayor and Dzeko. Is Van Persie going to go to Man City to sit on the bench? City also need to be ready for the UEFA fair play regulations in a couple of seasons, they can’t just spend lavishly as they have done in recent years. Given these regulations, why would they spend money on a striker when they already have five perfectly good strikers?
No other big club has shown any interest, many ruling out making a bid, apart from Juventus. No official approach made though, so it remains to be seen.
We aren’t going to let our captain go on the cheap, the offer coming in has to be a substantial one, or else Wenger will probably let him run down his contract for the final year.
I wish I knew more, but unfortunately apart from the man himself, Wenger, and a few other people inside the club, very few of us know what Van Persie is likely to do. Given the information at hand at the moment as discussed above there’s more chance of him staying than not. Personally I’d say its a 60/40 chance. Let’s not forget that this will be his last big contract and a world class player like him will want to win things, and that will play on his mind in the coming days. He’s given seven years to the club, and if he does leave, I hope its to a different league. I’d absolutely hate for it to be one of our Premier League rivals, but I am confident this will not be the case. I’m optimistic though that with one or two more class signings in addition to Giroud and Podolski, Van Persie will be persuaded to sign on the dotted line.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
may b
Couldn’t agree more. It’s about time someone said it, cudos to you. Also you can add what his mum and dad have said as well as his wife. All the Arsenal fans who say he won’t have a season like the last one might think their right but their more likely to be wrong.
Maybe the question should be ‘why would arsenal keep van persie?’. He has one year left on his contract, he’s one injury away from being worthless, he’s had one good season after years of injury problems… why should arsenal pay him a massive salary? Why take the risk?
Arsenal should sell him and i think they will. They’ve brought in two forwards to replace him.
If he was staying we’d know by now. He may love the club etc… but selling him makes sense. The ironic thing is he may not want to leave.
Nonsense.
If you want to win things, you add quality to quality, not simply replace it.
Some Arsenal fans seem to be over-reacting to the rubbish that the media has been spouting, how the heck do we know he hasn’t already provisionally signed, has even been offered a new contract, or anything else.
Garbage, garbage, garbage, things will out in due course.
Yep, you do add quality if you want to win things but thats hardly the point, is it?
If he has signed it would be plastered all over the official site. It isn’t though and he hasnt.
Rvp will leave. Its a business decision not a football one. Its how arsenal is run.
Selling rvp makes sense, he’s a great player but not worth 100k+a week, he has a horrible injury record and arsenal wont risk paying him a huge salary.
It’s incredibly naive of you to think arsenal would be unwilling to sell or would put competing for a trophy ahead of the balance sheet.
Here’s a theory I’ve been peddling to explain why even if RvP has agreed to stay, Arsenal wouldn’t necessarily want to announce it: a) Arsenal needs to clear out the extra players first; and b) why complicate any possible negotiations with the proven strikers, whom Arsenal need to support, or even compete with, RvP.
Arsenal has more business this summer than just RvP’s contract. The team has so many extra strikers, and midfielders, and defenders. Imagine if it were announced that RvP is staying, most likely with some higher wage. Add to this the expenditure to bring in Podolski and Giroud. The other clubs will feel that Arsenal need to sell. Thus they will have hope to drive a harder bargain.
With no announcement, the transactions would be that much more fluid. The other clubs might still feel that Arsenal need to sell, but they have less concrete knowledge than if an announcement were made. For sure an early announcement gains Arsenal nothing in this situation.
Also, while trying to bring in established strikers to ease the scoring burden on the captain, Arsenal need to create a flexible situation for both parties. If it has been announced that RvP is staying, the media would then brand any striker entering into negotiation with Arsenal as a second string, supporting player. Or the media would question whether the person is capable of competing with RvP, etc. That would be a poor environment to attract the best possible talent.
Now we see Giroud can say with pride, after he’s signed for us, that he’s here to compliment RvP, because the question is still out there whether Giroud is a replacement for RvP.
Some might point out that an official announcement that RvP is staying would help convince others also in negotiations to choose Arsenal: folks like Walcott or Song, any skillful DM, or any young talent out there. True this would help, but so would a private revelation at the appropriate time of the negotiation.
Thus making an early public announcement that RvP is staying, if it were the case, could harm Arsenal summer business activities. Granted such news would make us fans more happy and less anxious, which should also be important to Arsenal. But if the news were true, the fans would be equally delirious about it after all the necessary transactions were completed.
You seem to have totally overlooked something that every club has for it’s playing staff. An insurance policy. If a player is injured long term the club is reimbursed by an insurance company, how more people don’t know this is beyond me.
I hope so
Good article and I think RVP knows the truth that Arsenal have buttered his bread for 8 years, so now it should be pay back time, as his wife and family have pointed out to him.
I now the press has gone wild over the last 6 weeks plus about wild transfer prices and wages from all and sundray. But as far as I know no one as actually put in a firm offer, it is just paper rumours and wishful thinking.
Man Utd were so say intrest originally but nothing from then since does that mean that Fergie knows not to watse his time on a lost cause.
I only wish he stays. Arsenal wil b rockin com nxt season. Transact here http://gainmoneyfast.com/-151962htm
Id love to think he is staying, but I reckon he is going.
The stories of “waiting to see if quality players are signed” is as much heresay as anything else.
If he loves the club so much, why has he not signed already? If he indicated in the meeting with Ivan that he wants to stay, why would the club have gagged him? We have been selling our best players for years now – why would this be any different?
If Im wrong and he wants to stay, then get him signed up and lets prepare for the new season.
If not, sell him now, thank him for keeping our treatment table so warm, and replace with a top international striker. If he leaves we will all move on, I just wish this would stop dragging on, its becoming boring.
Arsenal fans would love to believe that he’s staying. And why wouldn’t they. They have quotes from RvP’ mum, his wife, how his kids are settled in London, how he loves the club, the staff, the kit man, etc, etc. So why hasn’t he signed? Oh that’s right, he waiting until then of the season….the end of Euros, end of his holiday. We’ve all been a witness to these delaying tactics with the inevitable outcome. Prepare yourself for the worse…anything else is a bonus.
cant wait for the headline that will read ‘He signs when he wants’
What many Arsenal fans forget is that this is ROBIN VAN PERSIE.
Don’t comare him to players that have left in the past.
Good points on Fabregas and especially Nasri! I don’t think that he is like those fellows in the sense that he won’t behave that wy but ultimately ends up leaving. I am uncler if he is convinced or more importantly if Arsenal have made a compelling enough argument for him to stay. Lack of additional defensive help should be of concern for him and us fans as well.
Reards,
Jamie Pawlikowski
“He isn’t like Cesc or Nasri”
Or Petit. Or Vieira. Or Hleb. Or Flamini. Or Henry… the list goes on.
“Van Persie hasn’t uttered a word to the media”
He has a ‘gagging’ order.
Big Al, Koh Samui, Thailand recently posted..Van Persie: Why I believe he is more likely to stay
Oh no he won’t. LOL
I disagree, with that statement he made he did not only insult the fans, the club but the boss who have been supporting him through 7 seasons with injuries. I wouldn’t call that a sign of him staying.