Saga Central
The latest summer transfer saga at The Emirates Stadium continues to feature on the back pages, or somewhere close to with the Olympic Games and Bradley Wiggins’ history making Tour de France victory taking attention away from Arsenal for now.
Robin Van Persie’s contract was running out at the start of last season but the striker made it crystal clear negotiations over a new deal would be on hold until the summer, after Holland’s involvement in Euro 2012 had come to an end. Some Arsenal fans kept calm, others fretted.
We all know how the next part of the story goes; RVP is Arsenal’s saviour, his 30 league goals go a long way to securing 3rd place and he trots off to the Euros with an unclear future.
To cut things short (we all know the plot by now) Van Persie made a statement on 4th July stating he would not sign a new contract with Arsenal, citing the clubs ambitions as the issue.
The situation we now have is very much a stalemate; Arsene Wenger wants to keep his man, but if he must sell then he wants at least £20 million for last season’s Premier League top scorer, however the interested parties (Juventus, Manchester City and Manchester United have all thrown their names in the hat) are yet to meet Wenger’s estimation.
Looking at the situation from a far two questions spring to mind:-
Do clubs want to pay £20 million for a nearly 29 year old striker with a history of injury problems?
AND
Does Wenger want to keep hold of his talisman hoping to win a trophy and convince Van Persie to stay?
Sam Jewell
@sw_jewell
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