Date: 5th August 2012 at 1:23am
Written by:
RVP: the new Wesley Sneijder

RVP: the new Wesley Sneijder

Another summer of transfer gossip; another summer of lies to sell newspapers; another summer of “Sky sources understand…”; and it seems another summer of misery for United fans.

2011 saw a three-month long courtship with Dutch ace, Wesley Sneijder. One minute the bookies had stopped taking money on his move to Manchester, the next he was quoted saying it was 90 per cent likely that he was to stay at his current club, Inter Milan. The fundamental point in what became a farcical topic, is, nobody within the club confirmed he was a target of ours – so as far as I am concerned, we never missed out on him. In fact, we were never in for him.

A combination of tabloid journalists that would sell their soul to shift a newspaper, and this current, and frankly embarrassing trend of ‘in the know’ accounts on Twitter, created enough hype between them, which had many of the Old Trafford faithful wanting, hoping, and believing the creative central player would be playing in red come 2012. This story did not have a happy ending.

This summer is different. Manchester United head honcho, Sir Alex Ferguson, has openly admitted who he is looking to bring to the club.

Naturally, it is not in the club’s nature to comment on speculation, but with Arsenal having already confirmed interest from United, Sir Alex was left with no choice but to admit Robin Van Persie is on our radar.

2011/12 Player of the Year and top goal scorer, Van Persie, has attracted interest from Europe’s top clubs, including Juventus, Real Madrid and PSG – however, reports suggest none are willing to meet his wage demands.

It seems a no-brainer that if Sir Alex has confirmed the interest, and Arsenal have indicated towards their price, the deal should be as good as done – who could turn down United?

Of course, the lure of playing for a massive salary at a club like Manchester City, PSG or Chelsea is an attractive sight for many footballers; just ask Van Persie’s ex-team mates, Ashley Cole, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichey, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebeyor, who all left the Emirates for huge contracts elsewhere.

You will not be playing in front of a packed stadium every week; you will probably be replaced within two seasons by a better player – but boy oh boy, you will earn enough money to buy your own country – who wouldn’t be tempted?

Robin Van Persie, despite having an amazing season for Arsenal, has many question marks surrounding him.

A less than impressive goal scoring record for five years prior to last, and a history of spending months on the treatment table, does not fill potential suitors with confidence.

The Arsenal captain also has his critics who say he cannot perform at the highest level, having choked for Holland at Euro 2012.

Would he be worth a £20m fee? Would he be worth £150k a week? Would he become the new Owen Hargreaves?

At the age of 29, and into the last year of his contract, this would very much be the last big move for the Holland ace – and the last chance to join a club which can offer him the opportunity of silverware; and I firmly believe he would be less of a risk than people think.

Was signing Eric Cantona a risk in 1992? He was a trouble maker that had been kicked out of the French squad for criticising the coach – not to mention being kicked out of the Marseille squad and not settling at Nimes, Sheffield Wednesday (loan) or Leeds. A journeyman with a bad attitude.

Was Teddy Sheringham a risk in 1997? He was already into his twilight years (31) and playing for mid-table Tottenham – what could he possibly bring to the United side?

Was Wayne Rooney a risk in 2004? £26m for a teenager who had no more than three years’ experience behind him? A lot of money to pay for potential alone.

Robin Van Persie, 2012, no more of a risk than any of the above. Sign him up.

To respond to this story, or any of my news updates, I am on Twitter: @NathonW

 

30 responses to “Robin Van Persie: A ‘Risk’ Well Worth Taking”

  1. Kung Fu king says:

    Rather sign Lewandowski in a years time personally.

  2. PS18 says:

    This isn’t about whether he’s a risk or not. It’s to do with necessities and luxuries.
    With Rooney in his peak years and the fast developing Wellbeck and Hernandez, how would RVP fit in? He’d hinder their development without a doubt.
    You might say that’s only 3 strikers and we need 4 but consider that Shinji is most comfortable in a position behind the striker so this would take up one of the two ‘striker’ positions.

    This is all without even mentioning Macheda, who people have written off yet Fergie has kept faith in (despite what rumours may say). He needs some game time too if he’s going to develop.

    Would you rather have one great striker for a few years or develop 3 strikers into great ones? For me it’s a no-brainer for anyone thinking long-term.

    • NathonW says:

      I totally understand your point about luxury and development, but surely RVP, being as good as he is (and he really is excellent), should be worth a look?

      Welbeck and Hernandez do not have a divine right to be given starting positions, whether they are developing or not.

      It is a results business and if they are good enough, they start.

      Rooney isn’t un-dropable either.

      I beleive with RVP, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Kagawa, Valencia, Young and Nani – we would be in an unbeleivable position going forward playing 4-4-2, 4-3-3 4-4-1-1, 4-3-1-2.

      Options.

      • PS18 says:

        That’s a fair point too. We don’t want to be in a position where we’re forced to play out-of-form strikers in crucial games because of a lack of options.
        But I still think we have enough in this squad. Suppose only one of Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez is available/in-form for a prticular game.
        We can still play 4-4-1-1, 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 thanks to Kagawa, Giggs and maybe Young who can all play just off the main striker.

        It looks like our interest in him might have heated up in recent days given what Lucas Mouron has done. I still wouldn’t complain much if I got to see a forward line of Rooney and van Persie for us next year, but if it squeezes out Welbeck and/or Hernandez I’ll be worried.

  3. NathonW says:

    It seems majority do not want RVP at Old Trafford, as it would prevent other srikers progressing.

    I find this outrageous and simply, unbelievable.

  4. Rampant Red says:

    Rvp is no good or us . He is too tall and ungainly. He has not proved himself at the highest level. We don’t need to buy the league. Not like the blue scum

  5. Blue Tony says:

    Unbelievable! You don’t want RVP because he is too tall ! What kind of supporters are you? Would you like us to loan you some smaller ones? Aguero perhaps! Man U are buying like loonies? Good luck but it takes more than money to Bildungsroman a great team. It takes a great manager and strong team spirit!

  6. si says:

    would most united fans prefer Song or RVP from Arsenal. Personally id take song in our midfield over carrick (31 +) scholes etc instead of RVP 29 and holding back the likes of wellbeck chico. Besides in europe we play 4-3-3. so to accomadate RVP would rooney have to play on wing or in midfield? thoughts? which gooner would you prefer?

  7. Silvernus says:

    @Nathon ur prophesy is working now.

  8. chrisaus88 says:

    This is all hilarious now.

  9. BayoRed says:

    And what happened to the man who put his house against United getting Van Persie? Reading the comments on here today was a blast.