Date: 22nd July 2012 at 11:41pm
Written by:
Two loyal players dedicated to the Gooner cause....

Two loyal players dedicated to the Gooner cause....

United and City both vying for the signature of a player Arsenal are hoping to keep? Sound familiar? Robin Van Persie has replaced Samir Nasri as the Gooner being coveted by both halves of Manchester. Last season’s title loss couldn’t have been any closer and it’s pretty obvious to everyone that had Nasri signed for United, it would have been number 20.

The knowledge that missing out on Nasri proved pivotal, may have strengthened Sir Alex’s resolve when it comes to the purchase of Robin Van Persie. Should the Premier League’s top scorer join the champions, then the task of winning back “our trophy” would be made even more difficult. Sir Alex may also look back to the whole Carlos Tevez affair, where the manager by his own admission “hesitated” in trying to re-sign the player, which all but allowed him to join City, another seminal transfer moment.

It’s the knowledge of how instrumental losing Tevez and losing out on Nasri was in handing City success that must make Sir Alex adamant we need to sign Van Persie, not just for what he’ll add to our squad, but to prevent him adding it to Roberto Mancini’s side. That’s my theory anyway. The reason I believe this, is I don’t honestly see the need for spending upwards of £20 million on a player we simply do not need. Yes, RVP is class, but he’s also 29 in Auguest and isn’t going to greatly improve. Danny Welbeck on the other hand is only 21 years old, has just enjoyed his best season ever and has showed in the Euros just how far he’s come since he announced himself to many Reds with a stunning strike against West Brom.

If you look at Welbeck’s goal scoring stats they read played 98 scored 25 since he turned professional – not counting internationals. At 21 years-old, Welbeck is perfectly set to kick on and become one of the best strikers the Premier league has ever seen.

Just take a look at the Mancunian’s stats when compared with some of the best strikers we’ve seen over the past two decades. Alan Shearer at the age of 21, had played 48 games bagging 14 goals, the in-demand RVP had 78 apps and 22 goals, Eric Cantona, the greatest striker the Premier League has ever seen, had 79 games and 27 goals, while Didier Drogba’s record at the age of 21 was 83 games 18 goals.

All of the aforementioned strikers blossomed in the following seasons, many being not only their sides top scorers, but also one of the leagues.

Should Robin Van Persie come to United, the chances of Welbeck being able to progress properly will be stifled somewhat as he’s almost certainly destined to be relegated to the bench.

At Eastlands, our rivals have a similar situation with the development of Mario Balotelli, who’s stock has risen dramatically following his superb showing in the Euros.

Balotelli has had a somewhat blistering start to his career, with 148 games and 55 goals by the age of 21, even more impressive considering the standard of leagues he’s played in.

There’s no doubt should Van Persie end up at Eastlands- which he probably will- then Balotelli a player who despite his problems is extremely gifted, would surely see his opportunities limited, perhaps to the point where his temperament got the better of him and he decided to leave.

Personally I’d be happy if Van Persie didn’t sign for United as I fully expect Welbeck to become one of the league’s top scorers and eventually a legend at Old Trafford, City fans may have a similar feeling about Balotelli.

The question is would the short-term gain of signing a 28 year-old with a patchy injury record, at the expense of a striker on the cusp of greatness be worth it? I’d argue for both clubs it wouldn’t.

Follow me on twitter for Welbeck adulation @RFFH

 

18 responses to “Why United AND City Should Avoid Signing Robin Van Persie”

  1. davi says:

    “it’s pretty obvious to everyone that had Nasri signed for United, it would have been number 20”
    Really? Wouldn’t City have just signed somebody else – probably somebody better.

  2. Dielle says:

    “Eric Cantona, the greatest striker the Premier League has ever seen”.

    Where were you when Thierry Henry was scoring goals just for fun?

    • Jay says:

      Yawn. Big game bottler. How many finals, how many goals? Sitting on the Wembley turf crying cos Michael Owen had just given him a lesson in finishing.

      • santi says:

        not his fault if his goal in that final was stopped by henchoz’s handball on the line. He also scored enough screamers against united lol

        • freddie says:

          Big game bottler?? 7 goals against your beloved manchester united LOL, with most of those goals being better than anything your cantona has ever done. His most famous goal is that crappy chip that Dennis Bergkamp has done like 5 better versions of!

          • Jay says:

            No it isn’t it’s the winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup final- something Henry couldn’t manage. Cantona also scored 2 in the final against Chelsea, remind me how may final goals did Henry score?

        • freddie says:

          As the guy above said Henchoz prevented Henry’s goal in that game, when he rounded the keeper and finished well only to be blocked by a hand, not exactly bottling is it. Unless you blame Henry for the opposition defender blocking the goal with his hand. If Cantonas fa cup final goal was blocked by a handball and Henry’s went in then would you sit here and say Henry is better? I dont think so as you’re obviously biased to united

        • freddie says:

          And you seem to ignore that Henry took Arsenal to a champions league final, why didn’t Cantona do this. Henry also played a huge part in an unbeaten league season and 49 game run the longest in history. Not to mention a world cup, euro 2000, 2 champions league finals winning one, 4 golden boots, 2 pfa player of the years, been runner up in the world player of the year. Cantona’s record is embarrasing compared to that. He is a great player but only a biased united fan could put him over Henry. I would also put Bergkamp and Zola up there with them, Bergkamp might even be the best

          • Jay says:

            Did Henry have the three foreigner rule when he was in the CL? No. This severely handicapped United in Eric’s prime as even the likes of Giggs, Irwin and Hughes who’d been in England since childhood, were classed as foreigners.

  3. Jack says:

    i agree to a point as Welbeck needs playing time to grow but if (as expected) Berba leaves then we would be light up top.

    maybe RVP isnt the right target, given his issues like cost/age/injuries but i would like to see someone come in. cos if Rooney gets a knock its alot of pressure to put on Welbeck/Hernandez.

    some games we might only use one main striker but there will be plenty when we will opt for two.

    in my pecking order a new striker is 4th and i would prefer to see new faces in other areas first. but in theory we need another striker and at least RVP is a finished article.

  4. LT3313 says:

    RvP will give Danny space to develop without the spotlight so much on him … he’s very young yet, and to be fair if he had scored the goals last season that RvP can then it would have been 20 and maybe a shot at Europe.

    Personally I think RvP would be a brilliant signing for the whole club as we need some injection to catch up with the huge spending at Chelsea/City and the gulf in class that has developed with Barca/Madrid.

    Yes, he’s very expensive, but he’s pure quality of the sort that makes a very handy squad player in later years also.

  5. GobiLux says:

    The Nasri statement is a bit imaginary. He had a very under-par season at City and definitely wasn’t relevant for the title-win. I do understand the Welbeck/van Persie issue but wouldn’t compare it to Tevez/Balotelli, In my opinion Balotelli was over-performing at the Euros and in the long run in the league he will hurt his team more than he will help.

    • Blue says:

      Nasri scored the winner against Chelsea – 2 points.

      You give no evidence on which you base your opinion regarding Balotelli over-performing. What do you base your opinion on? I suspect this more wishful thinking on your part.

  6. Red Dawn says:

    Cantona as good as he was – didn’t have patch on Henry . The Premier league most deadliest finisher ever . End of

    • chrisaus88 says:

      Err, think that would be either Ronaldo or Van Nistelrooy. Don’t try to bring in statistics of Ronaldo when he was 17 either. And i almost forgot shearer the highest scoring of the lot.

      Take your point though, Henry was one of the greatest players to ever play in England.

      Cantona was great because of his mind more than his feet. He was a winner.

  7. chrisaus88 says:

    Please don’t mention Tevez. I wish we could wash that stain from our history.

    Van Persie is too expensive & would hurt Welbeck’s chance, but he would raise morale with fans being our biggest name signing in years. I flip flop but today was thinking of Rooney & Van Persie in the same forward line & I’m telling you defenders would be scared.

    He might well be worth the money too take the pressure off Kagawa & Rooney & all the players really.

  8. Danny Welbeck says:

    Jay…Mate!!! I’ll always remember our couple of minutes @ the Salford Lad’s Club. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone!

    Chuffed you still see me as a future OT legend. My 9 goals have lit all of Europe afire and it’s been really hard fending off all the suitors trying to sign me up! I’m a keep doing my running around thang next season and probably score 9 more goals!!! 9 + 9 = 18 so I’m getting up there!!

    Keep telling anyone who doesn’t see how brilliant I am that they don’t really understand football. I love it!!

    XOXO

    Your Friend

    DW

  9. Gooner says:

    Arsenal fan here. Have no objections to this article but I’m really surprised by your Nasri comments. In all fairness he was a back-up player last season and didn’t have an impact on the title, and had he moved to United it would have most likely been the same story. He’s capable of moments of brilliance but has yet to demonstrate the mentality and influence to be the type of player who could decide a championship – in fact he was one of the 3 or 4 players responsible for our 10/11 collapse. He’s neither a playmaker capable of replacing Scholes or a winger capable of competing with Nani & Valencia.

    He’s also too much of a money-grabbing weird-toothed ****. But Arsenal fans aren’t ones to hold a grudge.