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| Taken from The Sun |
My previous article a few months ago suggested that Van Persie would be on the move therefore his latest disclosure on his Twitter came as no surprise to me.
The truth of the matter is that all modern footballers, like it or not, are mercenaries. The bottom line is that they will sell their services to the highest bidder.
His statement that the club’s vision is different to his is just a smokescreen to deflect attention away from his true motive which is money. In doing so, it would diffuse the hostility that the Arsenal fans would feel towards him when he does return to the Emirates in a Manchester City shirt.
He and his agent are not fools. They realise that the clever way to approach negotiations is to say that money is not an issue and it has not been discussed in negotiations. The reason is twofold. Firstly, they know that Arsenal will not offer anywhere near what they demand because of a clear wage policy and secondly,
Arsenal are not going to change their long term vision for one individual. Only the naïve cannot see through this weak ploy from the Van Persie camp.
He wants to have his cake and eat it by claiming that he loves the club so that he would be welcomed back in the same manner in which we greet Thierry Henry thus trying to establish himself as a Gunner’s legend.
Anyone would want to be associated with the greatness of Arsenal for life so he does not want to jeopardise this status.
Before anyone starts to suggest that my views are just “sour grapes”, let me remind you that reference to my previous article which was written months ago states that £25 million is great business for a 29 year old and we should let him go because he is an injury prone player who played his first full season at the club since his arrival eight years ago.
I will be very surprised if he scores 15 league goals (half the number he scored last season) or remains injury free in the coming season whether it is at Arsenal, who enforce his contract, or any other club.
There are only four clubs in the world that can afford him namely Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City so fans need to be careful when they criticise the Arsenal Board for running the club with the long term security as the number one priority. Gone are the days when the top clubs in Europe were all splashing cash on expensive transfer and agent fees topped up by ridiculous wages.
Instead of criticising the fact that Arsenal have made a £21 million profit over the last six years on transfer dealings, they should thank their lucky stars that we have Arsene Wenger who has kept us competitive without breaking the bank.
The reality is that there are only two trophies that the top clubs want to win namely the Premier League and the Champions League so it is unrealistic to expect a trophy when competing with a bottomless pit of cash. The proof of it being a two trophy season is underlined by the fact that Kenny Dalglish got the sack even though he won the Carling Cup and Liverpool having reached the FA cup final.
We will have a successful season with or without Van Persie. Remember the doomsayers were predicting the demise of Arsenal when Henry, Viera, Fabregas and Nasri left yet we have maintained our top four status.
Mark my words, Gervinho will be a superb player this year and Steve Bould will also have an impact. Together with the fact that the young team will be a year wiser, we will still be up there with the best. It would not surprise me if we beat Manchester City at the Emirates with Van Persie in their team!
Written by Goolam Rawat
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