RVP will cost Man U over £16m a year for the next 3 years. Is he worth it?

61 Replies to “RVP will cost Man U over £16m a year for the next 3 years. Is he worth it?”

1. Shame! 😮
   Btw…off topic but any gooner wanting a really handsome Christmas present (either for yourself or a very special Gooner friend) could do worse than bid for a first UK edition of Fever Pitch inscribed by both Nick Hornby AND also by Michael Thomas on the “It’s up for grabs” page. It’s lot 339 at Dominic Winter Auctions on the 12th December. http://issuu.com/jammdesign/docs/dw101-106?e=1975639/5817314
   Within this lot there’s another USA 1st edition copy of Fever Pitch. In addition, there are various other books (some signed) of Hornby’s.

   Signed copies just by Nick (and no Mick) of the 1st UK edition are currently being offered for upwards of 500 pounds. Estimates for this batch 200-300 pounds.

2. Although we initially suffered the loss of Van Persie, as things are turning out, we are a far more together team now. This would probably not have happened if he had stayed and perhaps it was not such a bad piece of business to cash in on him while he still had two legs to stand on.
   I am far happier now with Ozil in the team although we do need a good finisher alongside Giroud to complete all our great approach work.
   The abundance of quality midfielders we have is sharply in contrast with Man Utd’s where they seem bereft of skill and ideas. Now that is where they really need to spend some money; perhaps they cannot afford to – what a shame

3. Utd fans will argue that He was bought on the cheap which is why his wages are high and his contract long. Were he bought for £40-£50 mil then I’m sure a different contract would’ve been negotiated. When Sol came to Arsenal we gave him 90k a week which was much higher than everyone else but that was only because we didn’t have to pay a transfer fee for him. To be honest £65 mil for 4 seasons of having RVP in your side, even if he’s aging, isn’t a bad deal in today’s market. Fingers crossed though he spends most of it on the physio’s table…… Poetic justice!

4. Selling a 29 year old player with the type of injury record produced in this article for £24million when he has only one year left on his contract is a great deal any day. The only reason why many Gooners were mad (and are still mad) about the sale is because RvP went on to help Man United win the league in his first year with them. Somehow, I think many would be less hurt if he had failed with Man United last season. I know I would.

   Well, it’s time for the Man Yoo fans to feel the pain that we bore for several years.

5. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hanits not true Van$ersie was sold because the Prof never wanted to win anything some sewer rat who is a regular in here bragged!! Just want to look into his face and see what he has to say as of now??? Moron

6. I as a utd fan think it’s been a great deal for us as the first thing I noticed was the buzz within the squad when RVP arrived, very similar to when Ozil arrived this summer into your team. That alone helps massively as the team and squad can go on to great things……

   Now for your calculations of what he costs per game, doesn’t take into consideration the other competitions he plays in for us and as such makes your financial statement incorrect. Overall the point is valid and there will not be a resale value but the quality he ads to us helps and it’s his first injury in over two years so I wouldn’t say he’s back on the treatment table unless we don’t see him till the new year…

7. I think there is an article after he was sold(or on the move) on all the possible cases to RVP.

   The worst scenario for Arsenal is, of course, he keeps playing 30+ games for 3 years at least.

   For the moment, it is on course for the second best situation: 1 full season and back to his old self.

   There is always a chance that his old self appears again in the following one or two years.

   As a result, it is just a very average deal for Man U.

   If he is out over 6 months in any of the seasons, the deal would become a bad one.

   They have avoided the worst situation becuase he played a good season last year.

   The thing is, given RVP’s injury record and age, he needs a reliable reserve. A yound rising star or a descent experienced striker who can cover him. That would cost around 10M and a not-so-small salary (50K-80K a week?)

   One would think they have Rooney but no.
   A) They are playing different roles now
   B) Rooney’s contract will end soon
   C) Rooney won’t play second fiddle for anyone

   Then where is who is that cover?

   This deal proves how good Sir A is but anyone who has some sense can see it is bad for Man U.

   I tend to believe RVP’s injury record played a big part in Wenger not spending a huge amount to sign him. RVP wanted high salary and a longer term contract. Wenger knew he would be out for a long time with that contract. Also, Arsenal won’t be ready to challenge the top in at least one year, if not more. It doesn’t worth to gamble on RVP just to get perhaps from 3rd to 2nd or 4 to 2nd.

   Save the money, make do with what is available for the moment and spend it later on someone brilliant, young and not injury prone(e.g. Ozil) or another Cazorla. Or may be 5 Ramsey, one will certainly turn out very good.

8. Just wondering why you’ve not stated that these are assumptions. Unless you’re RVP, his agent or work for Utd, you don’t know how much he earns….

   These calculations prepared by yourself are rather irrelevant and make no reference to income. So in fact the article is factually complete bollocks. Cost implies the net cost when you’re talking about projects in accounting.

   Unless you’re an accountant (if you are, you’re incompetent), i suggest you shut the fuck up.

9. b) if he could just keep RVP fit for one season it would be worth it if it won the league, and there was a chance of him staying fit for one year. After that RVPs injuries would be a problem but then he would be getting older so wouldn’t play much anyway

   wtf? dum a$$

10. all is a bed of roses at the emirates (at the moment) but I’m looking forward to the annual chirruping of ‘wenger out’ come Feb 2014! Arse playing out of their skin but are only 4 points ahead of the misfiring chelski and 5 in front of citeh! It never ceases to amaze me how short a memory the gooner has. see you in 2014!!

11. ak47,

    Take your own advice.

12. The season to be Merry is almost upon us and in deference to the Yuletide and ‘goodwill to all men’ thingy here’s my take;
    non sequitur of course ….

    http://www.guy-sports.com/fun_pictures/reindeer_contract.jpg

13. Some of the Utd fans are revolting already. It was not RVP that won them the league last year, he helped, but some helped more, the men in black

14. What stupid article, try actually following football rather than playing fantasy manager! RVP was never bought for his resale value, he was bought because he is out and out the best number 9 in the w

15. Lead us not to temptation ……

    Santa went down the Chimney and started putting presents under the tree. He was about to leave and noticed the most beautiful red headed woman laying there in her naughty nighties.
    She said,” Santa do you wanna stay and play ?”
    He said,” HO HO HO Gotta go. Gotta Go ,gotta deliver presents to the kids Ho HO.”
    So he was about to leave again and She said once more, “Santa don’t you want to stay and play.” ,as she took off her nighties and was laying there in a sexy g-string.
    He said, ” Ho Ho HO gotta go, gotta go gotta deliver presents to the kids, don’t you know ho ho ?”
    So he went to leave one last time and the woman said again, “Santa stay and play.” and when he turned around she was laying there completely naked. The most beautiful thing in the world spread eagle.
    He said, Hey hey hey gotta stay, gotta stay, cant go up the chimney with my pecker this way!”

16. I was always convinced he and Wenger had a ‘special’ relationship. How wrong was I.

    It seems he lost a bit of patience, and with it, all sense of loyalty and integrity.

    When he shat on us all it was Wenger I felt most sorry for, Wenger and the fans that had been paying his wages year in year out whilst he sat on the bench not earning it.

    I don’t care how ambitious you are, you know when you are indebted, be it to an individual or a group.

    Judas knew he owed us. He knew he owed Wenger for standing steadfastly by him when things where tough, not only on the footballing side but in his personal life as well. He knew he owed the fans who still payed his wages and sang his name while he gave back very little, until that last season.

    And then at the drop of a hat he said, f**k you all. I don’t give a toss about you Wenger, and as for “you guys” that he so wanted to keep in the picture, well you can shove all that hard earnt cash you put in my bank because this is all about ME ME ME !!!!!!!

    In conclusion I have to agree with the overall sentiments of what you say Tony, which is, I think, that basicly, as hard as it was to bear at the time, we have done pretty well out of the whole affair.

    The elation I will feel IF we do manage to win the PL will be magnified 10 fold just knowing how it will hurt him. Because make no mistake it will. He will know he blew a chance to lead Arsenal into this new era and become a legand. That status is afforded relatively few players and he blew it.

    Instead, and of course this may be very premiture, he may well end up being a one season wonder in the last year of the Manchester Utd monopoly.

    Only time will tell but I think he will end up looking back and thinking he made one seriously bad choice.

17. Feel so good to see MU declining hahaha

18. I bid you all goodnight with this’ Want Pussy’ offering !

    Dirty Johnny climbs onto Santa’s lap at the department store. Santa says, “I’ll bet I know what you want for Christmas.” And with his index finger he taps the boy on the nose with every letter he spells, “T-O-Y-S.” The little boy answers, “No, I have enough toys.”
    Santa tries again, tapping Johnny’s nose with every letter, “C-A-N-D-Y.” Again, Johnny says, “No, I have all kinds of candy.” “Well, what would you like for Christmas?”
    Santa asks.
    Johnny replies, tapping Santa on the nose, “P-U-S-S-Y. And don’t tell me you don’t have any because I can smell it on your finger!”

19. This article is exactly spot on, the Van Persie purchase was fantastic for Ferguson, not such a great deal for Man Utd’s future which I suspect happened a lot over there. I actually don’t begrudge Van Persie going there, he effectively quadrupled his salary (and no, I don’t need to be his accountant to know that), but it’s garbage to say he went over there to win trophies, would he have switched if his salary was cut 75%, btw 98% of fans would have done the same, the money in the bank lasts a lot longer than fickle fans emotions, yes Arsenal would have raised his salary, but he would have still been walking away from close to 10 million extra pounds, can anyone honestly be certain they would do that, footballers careers are not so long

20. I always said, the RVP was sir Rednose’s going away gift for himself. I don’t think it changes the fact that we would have been better off if he would have stayed with us. Probably won the league…

    Anyhow, there can be no argument that RVP sidelined is probably the most gratifying thing happening in other teams at the moment.

21. I thought RVP earns £250, 000 a week, not £200, 000 if I remember the figures correctly. The total package is obscene anyway.

22. Good luck to van the man he sold his sole and has lived to regret it

23. In Response to arteta saying the Christmas period is important AVB has issued a statement it is not important it is crucial . you use duck fat or the roast potatoes Will be soggy

24. Think you are right tommiegun. Also read vp gets a ten million bonus if he completes his contract. Still, I think we are stronger as a team for his departure. For all vps ability, he made us too one dimensional, everything was aimed at him. Midfielders sacrificed themselves for him. Maybe some neglected defensive duties to get him on the scoresheet, sometimes with Hollywood pass assists. Some have flourished now vp has departed, including a Mf who vp allegedly did not rate. Team spirit has improved….coincidence? The team is now more than the individual. I no longer have any ill feeling to him, as the song says, no hard feelings, no feelings at all. His behaviour was in reality probably no worse than the universally loved cesc…..but….man Utd.
    Moving onto a current player, does anyone know what is going on with TV? Surely last night was the ideal game to get him on the pitch, help his WC cause and rest kos or Bfg? Does wenger just not rate tv? Is he being forced out or has he gone? He is a player I for one rate and admire…anyone can have a bad spell, but he seems to be really paying the price for his? Hope he gets some games, he is a good player….and he signed an extension when others were leaving, so loyal as well….

25. Let’s now forget Yesterday’s Man and count our own blessings. The resurgence of Ramsey, the talent of Wilshere, the industry of Flamini, the unity of our Back Five and the arrival of Ozil (as well as all the rest).
    No wonder we are known as Lucky Arsenal.

26. Mandy I think the fact that he already made two changes in defence was enough for one game. I think Wenger wanted to keep the centre intact as the full backs were out/rested for this match. In a way TV is unlucky because otherwise he might have played.

27. Agree Mandy, rvp helped utd but not by that much, the men in black won if for red nose.

28. won it for red nose…..

29. @Bootoomee, although him going to manure was undoubtedly a huge factor in despising him, probably even the biggest-I also despise him for the fact that he jumped ship after one full season fit, as Tony has demonstrated. I also despise him for questioning the clubs and managers ambitions, and fro his pathetic “You guys” statement and “always be a gunner” statement to the Arsenal fans, and “little boy inside me” statement to the united fans. These all demonstrate how shallow he is. Apart from him scoring against us, I was happy to see him celebrate- his true colours emerged, unlike the previous year with what was an ingenuine non- celebration.As I said on another thread, I wouldn’t be sad if he never kicked a ball again.

30. In a way, I never begrudged RVP when he left. I said even Arsene who knew his worth and would sorely miss him shipped him on, who was I to shed tears?

    But latter, RVP made very unusual comments…and after that celebration when he scored against us, I loathed the striker with venom!And I’m uncharacteristically rejoicing that that celebration was the last time he appeared for Man U while they dropped 7 out of 9 points!

    I recalled that Adebayor left Arsenal as Africa’s reigning Footballer-of-year…but had to do that idiotic celebration that sent him into oblivion. I thought RVP was smarter than trying to infuriate Wenger. Our ex-captain would have seen how Nasri almost became forgotten for his arrogant statements!

    I rate footballers next to animals when I see some ex-Arsenal players turn their backs on Wenger! Look at Alex Song, who cost Arsenal countless points just because Wenger insisted on giving him chance to become a player. Look at Bentdner!

    Well, let Man U feel the heat of having your best player on the treatment table, waiting for his return while dropping points against every opposition. Unfortunately for Man U, RVP’s coming had retarded the growth of the hitherto most lethal striker in the Prem called Chicharito!

31. Chippy Brady,

    I agree with all the reasons that you stated. All of them. But the fact that he won the league with them made it even more painful; kind of like salt on our wounds. I think more of us would find it easier to ignore him if he had failed in his supposed bid to win a trophy.

    I can’t agree with you more on his celebration. I prefer it to the false modesty of non-celebration.

32. It’s all about the money. It is always about the money. Every time some-big mouthed, over-paid asshole athlete says that it’s not about the money, Don’t believe a single word coming out his lying pie-hole. For once in my life I wanna hear just one of these lying sacks of shit speak with candor. Just say ” I’m outta here cause the other guys are waving a shitload of cash at me ” If that happens, then I will have a little respect for them. But no, They’ll say the team is not going in the right direction or sprout off about the management not showing them any respect. Blah Blah Blah. NEVER THE REAL REASON. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. I will give Flamini some props, He played out the contract he signed and left. Those other traitors signed long-termed deals and want to leave with years left on them. Nobody put a gun to their heads when they signed. They kiss the badge and drone on about how they love the club and the supporters, Don’t be fooled. These assholes will give you a myriad of reasons why they gotta go, Except one, THE TRUTH IT’S ABOUT THE MONEY, MONEY, AND MORE FUCKING MONEY. BELIEVE DAT.

33. BILL

    Expressed with real passion as usual.

    The problem with your theory is that it means that no player ever playing for us can be viewed in any other way than as a mercenary.

    If your theory is correct that means Ramsey chose us over Utd for the money. Ozil comming to us was nothing to do with Arsene but down to the money. Wengers only stuck with us all these years because of the money.

    You get my point. If your going to trash everyone who leaves us as doing so solely for the money then surely that applies to everyone coming to us.

    As much as I love your heart felt posts and more often than not agree with you I do think, that at least some of the time, there is more to it than JUST money. Surely there has to be or we should all just give up now.

34. One of my three sons is a ManU fan. (I don’t know how it happened. I tried every brand of soap on his head and eyes but it didn’t wash off). As a result, as a good dad, I am obliged to sit through ManU games with him on TV. And a family rule is “no gloating; no sassing”. All comments must be reasoned and sensitive…
    Last season, I couldn’t bring myself to watch any ManU game with my son; it was just too painful to watch the guy performing for them and scoring more often than not. And my son understood. However, this season, it is different. Even his presence and scoring the winner on our visit to OT didn’t gall at all. We are over them and I was over him. Noticing that he had missed all the ManU matches thereafter and his has been suffering just made me respect AW all the more. ManU have more problems than rv’s declining performance and a comprehensive challenge to re-establish their pre-eminence and we are continuing in our upward ascendance…

35. Jambug, I see your point. I feel that it’s time for these pampered babies to grow the fuck up. Act like a MAN, Not like a fucking baby. You willing sign a long term contract, honor it. See the contract through and if you wanna leave town, that is fine. A lot of the time Arsenal finds these young players and turns them into world class footballers. They sign deals, happy to take the dosh, Then some other club waves a shit load of cash in their face and it is bye, bye to the Arsenal. If you are a free agent, No problem. It is almost like adopting a young child and giving them love and a good home. Then they wanna run away because someone’s house is bigger and nicer than yours. All I’m saying is what about a little loyalty. Act like a MOTHERFUCKING MAN. Leave when you see your contract out, Not half-way through. Glad we can agree to disagree.

36. Bootoomee- I agree with you because i despised Nasri even more when city won the title. And i admire non celebration when it means something- like AR in Cardiff last week, totally genuine. But not the Dutch skunk because it was not genuine

37. Think you are probably right Walter, maybe that would have been too many changes, but would really like to see TV get a few games under his belt, not because of injuries or suspension, but because of his attitude and ability

38. In short, Fergie knew RVP was the single easy way to victory and that he was also retiring after that do it wouldn’t be his problem.

    To keep him would have cost us a new contract and wages for the duration for an injury ravaged player. Let’s be honest, he was only injured at Arsenal so much because he wasn’t first choice, I imagine the same thing is happening now.

39. I am with those who want to forget about yesterday’s men. Notice the media is silent on the effect of losing RVP for a few games has had on Man U. If I recall during his last season at Arsenal, we were always reminded Arsenal would suffer if he ever got injured. Similar to the warning we get every day about Giroud getting injured. I just wonder

40. TV is unlucky because Mertesacker and Koscielny are playing so well together, and their centre defence position is not so physically demanding as the full back position, and so doesn’t call for rotation so much.

    I think, however, with all the matches coming up he will get his chance too.

41. RVP was used to paper over the ManU cracks last season. Fergie satirically said he was the last block in their jigsaw puzzle.
    RVP injuries were some of the major reasons Arsenal never won anything in seven years.
    MAn U are now trying to cope with the cost of holding him and Rooney and buying other classy players definitly the books will be unbalanced. That is the only reason they could not buy big this season and pricing Cesc in piecemeal.
    Keeping Rvp and Rooney satisfied in the same team and the same match has also openened a bag of tactical problems for Moyes. they could not bid for Ozil because it will bench Rooney. I expect that soon the frustration of ManU fans will boil over against RVP himself and there will be outcry that he should be auctioned. A car sales man once told me, that when you buy a vintage car, you ‘ve just bought an asset and liability put together.

42. It sums Ferguson up. He was a self serving egotist.

    His argument with the Irish owners over the Rock of Gibraltar led to the club being sold to the Glazers. Yet the fans couldn’t see the wood for the trees, Fergie was never blamed.

    The purchase of RvPi$$ was short sighted and offers no financial sense, but let Fergie leave as a champion. He left Moyes with an aging defense, a serious lack of midfield and no money…

    United / Glazers floated shares to cover this whole farce, they raised $50 million selling part of the club which they are regularly stripping.

43. I think TV might play the Napoli game and merty gets a rest? Van persie that celebration just shows he thought see I am right I am the best and leaving arsenpal was the right decision. Apparently he went to the arsenal dressing room? To do,what gloat? Cunt face.

44. He went to the Arsenal dressing room!? He has the cheek to do that after his adebayorsque celebration, wish Sagna decked the cnut.

45. That celebration HURT:(
    Hpw much is Adebayor costing Spurs?LOL.

46. I was and am of the opinion that you don’t sell to your rivals (maybe AW didn’t consider MU our rival?). So, despite the gazillion pounds we received, I was against that transfer. We seem to have weathered his loss now but to directly equate his departure and Ozil’s arrival is a bit of a stretch.

    Understanding that few players are or were fans of the club whose shirt they where, I am somewhat sanguine when a player decides to leave our club. I understand that a freak accident on the pitch or an assault for that matter can end a player’s career prematurely so moving to a larger club for more money makes sense. I do take umbrage, however, when a player is tapped up or agitates for a move and does it without submitting a written request therefore (probably) still legally getting any ‘loyalty’ bonusess that may be paid. I have more time for people like Flamini who leave at the end of a contract.

    As for celebrations against a former team…meh…people go on about respecting your former club…well how about respecting your current one. And, is there a time limit? Let RvP celebrate his goals against us after all he has spent 14 or 15 months hanging around that lot up North and they are his new mates. As has been mentioned before, he went from being a potential ‘legend’ to a ‘ex-Arsenal player’ by the manner in which he engineered his transfer and he and we have to live with that.

47. If Diaby has a good season next year and then moves to some other club to fulfill his ambitions, then I will be as angry as I was when the dutch skunk engineered a move……

    And lets not forget, Mr Wenger was ready to let him run down his contract. Hence the you guyz statement which forced Mr Wengers hands

48. Tony,

    The context was so important:
    -Fergie thought he had won the title. But:
    -Aguerro wins it for $ity in added time; Fergie looks stupid and Mancini looks like a genius.
    -Manure / Fergie start courting Judas promptly, as Mancini had far more famous strikers; but we wanted to sell to Juve; the Boss knows that it is best to get Judas out of the League. Juve could not afford Judas, but they helped drive his fee up, and the duration of the Manure contract too.
    -Manure was able to win the title after acquiring Judas; this is very important; the men in black were instrumental, and Mancini’s players (mostly Balotelli) did not play to their potential. When Mancini said that his team was equally good to Fergie’s, he was right, but his players goofed off too many times, dropping points while Manure was ruthless and the men in black in rare form.

    Did we need to offload Judas when he was not going to sign a new contract? Yes. Did Mancini want to sign him? He said so and I believe so, but the $ity owners had a poor understanding of the League; they thought that Aguerro, Dzeko and Balotelli would be enough of a strike force. They were wrong. Juve was ultimately unable to afford Judas. Manure, including the Glazer family, knew that they were buying an immediate title with a financial burden down the road. I even believe that a decision about hiring Moyes was prepared a long time ago, with the argument that Moyes did well at Everton with a limited budget. The Glazers knew that Fergie may retire as soon as a new title was secured.

    In the backdrop, there is FFP. The Boss does believe that it will impact the League, but many others (Chelski and $ity but Manure?) do not. The League is (inevitably) dealing with the fact that players wages grew so out of proportion that a significant “correction” will occur. That will be the actual FFP: reality. But look at how some of the owners made their money, and how they spend it (yachts, anybody?) and then reality becomes very blurry, nonexistent, unreal.

    We are now 12 points ahead of Manure. The last time we finished ahead of them was the last year Thierry Henry played for us: 2004-2005. For us fans, winning the League is what we really hope for, but a finish ahead of Manure is also very important in the context of the Judas transfer.

49. @Tommie Gun
    100% same thought. This was all Fergie set up from the start.The result as we saw, grandpa red nose did his farewell season campaign in memorable way. Thanks to RVP but screw up for Moyes as his successor. Now, the story turn into payback time and punishment to RVP and ManUre. I then loved to say that we should completely get rid of RVP. Let’s the Arsenal’s memory just only belongs to himself (if he still wants to). For us, RVP’s story will place side by side with Cashley Cole in our history book, chapter : The Succesfull Traitor. Nothing more.

50. @Bootoomee I don’t think most Arsenal fans are upset that RVP won the title with Man U. Most, I’d say, dislike him for the way he left showing no loyalty to a club and manager that had stuck by him through all the injury years & allegations of rape. The final straw was the “little boy inside me” comment he made on moving to Man U.

    We should worry, anyway, we got £24m for an injury prone 29 year old who was in the last year of his contract.

    I reckon we’re stronger now without him and actually finished with more goals & points last year than in his last season with us.

    Good riddance to him. He will never be classed as an Arsenal great.

51. It is fun to have a go at the conspiracy theory, but give rational thinking a chance to sink in.

    Fact is, none of us know the motivation behind RVP’s purchase. He stayed healthy last year, he is injured this year, but hey, we kept him in the team list for 7 years injured.

    You might argue that we paid him less, but for many years, he was not THIS good.

    You can also look sideways and see that Augero was injured a lot last year too, but you won’t say he is not worth it right?

    So I think, all in all, it was a calculated gamble. Fergie went all out for RVP after losing out on Oscar Moura. RVP is a striker who isn’t so reliant on his physical abilities which means he probably can play till an old age. His goals paper over the cracks for a season giving United time to fix the problem.

    While it is fun to speculate that they couldn’t fix the problem because of RVP’s wages, I think the truth is probably just bad management by United’s executives.

    At Arsenal, we have been hurt many times by the “AAA” which came up with theories on why Wenger wouldn’t spend. He is a stooge, he is afraid, he is blah blah. It is all very silly behaviour so let’s not go down that road.

    Have some dignity.

52. Not sure how accurate Al about v pansie

    http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/350328/Robin-Van-Persie-congratulated-Arsenal-after-they-lost-to-United

    http://www.givemesport.com/400300-arsenal-congratulated-by-robin-van-persie

53. that is absolutely correct but the interesting thing is Rooney is better than RVP up front or anywhere so why buy a striker and play Rooney in the midfield y not leave Rooney up front and buy the midfielder also what has amazed me is y Rooney ever put up with playing out of position and y it took him so long to say never again up front here or up front somewhere else

54. I forgot where i read it but Wenger said the influence on RVP to move to Utd was the Dutch coach, not Wenger or Fergie.

55. Read the very same thing Ben, what a shame for him that neither Fergie or Meulensteen are still there, guess that leaves VP a couple of choices
    1/he can either adjust his expectations to working with Moyes and Phil Neville instead
    2/ He can demand a transfer to work with Meulensteen at Fulham

    Off topic, but congratulations to Rambo – 5th time in a row player of the month….amazing…hes not fit to wear the shirt you know! Will be nice to tell Barca where to go for once when they come hunting for him this summer…

56. According to the article linked below, RVP was signed for “a £25m fee and £15m a year in wages”. That’s 288k / week! And according to an off-the-cuff comment by Wenger (which was reported by an attendee of one of the shareholder do’s) City had offered 300k/wk.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/robin-van-persie-sounds-death-knell-for-once-rich-rivalry-between-arsenal-and-manchester-united-8585331.html

    Obviously who knows if these reports are true, regardless he got a massive payday.

    Are we at the stage where we can pay our players similar amounts? For the first time in years I don’t feel any worry that our key players may leave – but money talks as they say.

    Football is kind of sickening sometimes. It doesn’t really bear thinking about the sums getting thrown about while people freeze on the streets. Ah well that’s life eh.

57. Sir Alex greatest undoing at old trafford was van persie’s deal cos if he had gone for a younger striker of no prone injury record of RVP, i still beleive united would still have won the league considering his knowledge and experience of the league say Lukaku, Higuain. But financially it wasn’t a good deal considering he Alex wouldn’t last at old trafford, so a player that would be useful to him and his successor would have appeal. Now RVP isn’t playing and Moyes is under pressure. Though in his autobiography he referred to wenger as a dupe cos of the RVP deal failing to understand the persie was not on our transfer list and he showed his desperation at securing RVP. Well whatever it is, they should live with it, Arsenal have moved on since then.

58. Always felt it was a selfish transfer by Ferguson to gain over the short-term over the long-terms needs of the club.

59. Black Hei,
    When you say he was not “THIS good” for us, what exactly do you mean? If you mean he was never a potent goal scorer for us, the you are wrong. An old article on Untold analysed his goals per minute ration during his early years with us and it was the best in the league, he even beat Henry & Bergkamp.

60. One thing i know for sure RVP is having sleepless nights about his decision to leave Arsenal, for one CL title. He looks at Arsenal now and thinks, “i should have stayed, they are now that what i wanted them to be”. Arsenal have moved on. Anyway, he may be replaced soon as Manu are courting Ronaldo, ALTHOUGH i cannot see Ronaldo going there without Fergie as manager no matter how much they want to pay for and pay him, he would be silly, and he is not silly by any means that man. In fact by the end of the season, i think he would rather come to Arsenal than Manu.
    Well, this looks like another masterful move by AW, who would have known exactly what he could get in the next 4 years from RVP, therefore not much real resistance to selling him. What ever was said, I do not think we would have sold him if AW had said to the board, i need him, after all the board has much respect for AW, and AW said that it was after speaking to RVP that he decided to let him go. So, what have we learned?
    AW is actually a master, and now with the resources Arsenal have, after having to be frugal for the last years, let us look forward to Phase 4 of the Arsenal plan.

61. Think Utd stand more chance of getting Reus (rumoured £31m release clause) than Ronaldo, especially if you factor in Kagwa possibly going the other way.
    But think you are right AW is the master.
    Have a feeling in common by many that RVP was taken up there on false pretences, if so, he can only blame himself. He could have todays version Rambo, Ozil, Jack, Cazorla,Rosicky,Theo, Giroud and the others helping him find the net. He currently has Cleverly, Carrick, Nani, Anderson, the amazing…but.. 40 year old Giggs and another striker who may well resent his presence. Know who I would prefer…I am sure he would have loved to play in our current set up, if only he had waited! Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can…seldom found in a woman…and never in a man