Robin Van Persie - Rumour

[Bluemoon]

Man City planning £30m raid for disillusioned Arsenal skipper Van Persie
By Rob Draper - Daily Mail

Manchester City will make a £30million swoop for Arsenal captain Robin van Persie if contract talks between the crisis club and the disaffected star make no progress before the January transfer window.

Sources close to Van Persie say he is deeply disillusioned over the summer departures of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy to City.

Van Persie scored twice in Saturday's 3-0 win over Bolton but if he chooses to follow his former team-mates out of the club it will add to the feeling that Arsene Wenger's side, who have made Arsenal's worst start to a League season for 58 years, are unravelling.

Van Persie's contract - thought to be worth £80,000 a week - runs out in 2013, meaning the club would be forced to sell him by next summer if they wanted any financial return.

With central defender Thomas Vermaelen and England winger Theo Walcott also having deals ending in 2013, chief executive Ivan Gazidis has a major task convincing the Dutchman to stay.

Other players are likely to take their lead from the Arsenal captain and the club cannot afford to give the impression that wealthier clubs can cherry-pick their squad.

On Saturday Wenger confirmed Van Persie's importance to the team after his brace took him to 100 goals for Arsenal and helped secure only their second league win of the season.

'He has grown well into the captain's role, said Wenger. 'He is a man who speaks his mind and is doing the job well.'

Van Persie has had offers to leave before. He signed a new contract in 2009 despite Juventus, Internazionale and Chelsea all following the progress of talks. But the player is settled in London and has been committed to Arsenal.

However, the departure of so many key players and the inability of Arsenal to keep pace with Manchester United and City will inevitably be a factor in talks. Van Persie has won just one trophy at Arsenal, the FA Cup in 2005.

Talks with Vermaelen are at an early stage, according to a source close to negotiations. Walcott's representatives have not started talks but Wenger said they would begin soon. Andrey Arshavin's deal runs out in 2013.


www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2041266/Manchester-City-planning-30m-raid-Robin-van-Persie.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[trautmansdropkick]

I absolutely think ( after the Adebayor saga) that van pussy is a cheating toss bag and he is just llike sturridge - all one foot and all for me (like Tevez) type of player. The only pass he'll voluntarily make is in his car on the motorway. No way do I want him in Sky Blue.

[Bluemoon]

How much of Arsenal’s fall from grace last season and so far this season can be blamed on rivals Manchester City? The shift of power from north London to east Manchester is quite tangible especially when you consider that in recent years Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and Kolo Toure have all exited Emirates for Etihad Stadium.

Now comes the news that Manchester City is pursuing Robin van Persie as a potential signing in the January transfer window. The Dutch striker, who is the one player still left at Arsenal who is in a different class, would be a perfect replacement for Carlos Tevez if and when the Argentine leaves City.

Typically I would brush off transfer rumors like this. But the source comes from The Guardian, who are typically more reliable than other British newspapers. Don’t be surprised if Arsenal comes out tomorrow and dismisses the story, but the fact of the matter remains that van Persie has not signed a renewal to his contract and he has all of the leverage right now to either demand a massive salary increase from Arsenal in the form of a new contract, or an even bigger payday from City.

With Tevez on his way out at City, van Persie would be the final big money buy that Manchester City would need to have a team that could compete with any in the Premier League, and would set them up as a tough team to beat in future Champions League seasons.

For Arsenal, this would be another devastating blow. Van Persie is an Arsenal icon. But so too were Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. For Arsenal’s sake, I hope van Persie stays at Arsenal, where he can continue to be the top player at the club who is the first name on the team sheet. While City would love to have him on their books, it would be a killer blow for Arsenal to see him leave.



www.epltalk.com/manchester-city-line-up-move-for-robin-van-persie-to-replace-tevez-35605