Robin Van Persie has been left out of the Far East squad: Bye-Bye RVP
Robin Van Pursey? Arsenal reject offers for the Dutch striker from Utd, City, and Juve as per reports. The figures are unknown but they are nowhere near Arsenal’s demand of £25m.
In another sign his departure is almost inevitable, RVP has been left out of the squad for the Malaysia and China tour. He will train at the London Colney grounds working on his fitness.
A few things. If the offers have so far been nowhere near meeting Arsenal’s valuation, it could mean a natural recalcitrance to splash for a frequently injured striker who is entering his final phase of his career. In City’s case too, they still need to resolve the futures of Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzekom and a stalling Emmanuel Adebayor. Meanwhile, Utd seem to be keen on opening up the purse strings for the signing of Lucas Moura, the 19 year old Sao Paulo midfielder, in their quest to find the next generation of goal providers.
Juve would like to sign someone to fill Alessandro Del Piero’s shoes and at times really struggled with goalscoring last season. But the club and the Serie in general are really going through serious economic downsizing and one can’t see them matching City or even Utd if they decide to up the ante. Here lies the rub.
At Arsenal’s end, things are a bit tighter around the margins. It’s RVP’s last year and he could see out his contract but then be available on a free transfer. In effect, we have a striker who could go through the motions while we lose a huge sum of money. On the other hand, Arsenal has to forego their typical footdragging if there is no serious commitment to matching their valuation. This is the time to play a smart bit of defense off the pitch.
The best you can do is to direct Van Persie to a club where he can do little damage. So if Juve fall short of the figure by £10m, take it. They can sweeten if for RVP by offering better personal terms. In RVP’s case, he’s not an Adebayor, in that he can actually hurt you with his last minute left footed out of this world strikes. There is plenty of evidence to suggest he can’t be reduced to an Adebayor like caricature. He has publicly said Juve would be his preferred choice. Lets do everything to make that wish come true.
The Guardian links us to Fernando Llorente the in form Athletic Bilbao center forward, but this is pretty far fetched. We are already getting Olivier Giroud whose characteristics would match that of Llorente creating an unnecessary redundancy and an unwanted bench controversy. What we need is someone with Premiership experience and undoubted match winning capabilities. Which means we should compete with Liverpool for Clint Dempsey’s signature should RVP leave. The American second striker will be a great investment from that transfer money.