According to the Sun:-
ARSENAL want to report Manchester City for allegedly ‘tapping up’ star striker Robin van Persie.
Manager Arsene Wenger and chief excutive Ivan Gazidis called Vos yesterday to express their fury at how RVP announced he would leave on Twitter.
In more embarrassment for the shell-shocked Gunners, their second-largest shareholders launched a scathing attack on the club in an open letter.
Usbek oil magnate Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri, who hold around 30 per cent of shares, blasted the club over losing Van Persie, just like they lost Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri last summer.
They wrote: “This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the club and the club’s ambitions.
“The situation with our captain and outstanding performer of last season, Robin van Persie, sums this up.”
Most of the players return to training next Monday and Wenger and Gazidis (right) must now decide whether to lodge an official complaint over the alleged tapping up.
No club has invoked the Prem’s Section K rule on illegal approaches since Chelsea were fined £300,000 for their part in Ashley Cole’s move from Arsenal in 2005. City are adamant they have done nothing wrong.
SunSport told yesterday that the Gunners felt Van Persie was trying to plot a way out of the club.
Arsenal insist they will hold the Dutch star to the last 12 months of his contract, although the reality is they will let him go for £30million.
City will make an opening bid of only £15m for the 37-goal Footballer of the Year who can pocket £200,000-a-week wages at the Etihad.
Usmanov and Moshiri, through their Red & White Securities Limited, want to put Arsenal in a position where they can retain and sign top stars.
They wrote: “It doesn’t help to turn a blind eye and keep thinking we are in the same league as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man City and Barcelona.
“To have a chance of success, which means winning trophies, we need to match them in every aspect.”
Arsenal expect Van Persie to go on their Far East tour. He could even face City in a friendly in Beijing’s Olympic Stadium on July 27
