A slightly different slant on things,
The bookies have made Manchester United the favourites to land Robin van Persie – presumably on the basis that Sir Alex Ferguson is the only manager who has publicly declared an attempt to sign the want-away Arsenal star. You would have to be mad to believe it, and van Persie would have to be crazier still to fall for Fergie’s overtures. City hold all the aces in this three-way game of transfer window poker, despite keeping their own desires under their hats. Boss Roberto Mancini said last season that he would make a move for van Persie if he ever got the chance, and the fact that the Gunners have now given up on the Dutchman staying at the Emirates would appear to be that chance. Arsene Wenger underlined the fact that van Persie will leave by, as the Gunners began their Far East tour, saying: “Van Persie is a world-class striker and I am a big supporter of him. I have supported him through his whole career. He has one year left and is in demand but our desire is to keep him. “However, we will do what is in the best interest of the club. If you have a decoder in your head you can decode that. The official transfer deadline is August 31 but then we can create an internal deadline.” Asked if that was before the new season kicks off, he replied: “Of course. I believe the transfer market should stop before the season starts anyway.” Juventus are the other party involved in this fight, but they would struggle to compete with debt-laden United for van Persie, never mind taking on the wealth of City’s owner Shiekh Mansour. Juve posted record losses of £74million last season, a situation described as ‘intolerable’ by their president Andrea Agnelli. Last week, top Italian agent Mino Raiola – after settling the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan to Paris St Germain – said that the days when Italian clubs bought top players are over. More challenges await battle-hardened Micah Richards For Juve to buck that trend, and do so in the face of competition from two of Europe’s most powerful clubs, would be remarkable. In fact, it could only happen if van Persie had set his heart on leaving England. The bottom line is that, when it comes to buying van Persie, City can outbid both of their rivals, and offer the player a wage closest to his reported £200,000-a-week demand. Ferguson has been unusually vocal about United’s transfer market activity, confirming the Reds are in for van Persie and then letting it be known that they are also chasing Brazilian wonderkid Lucas Moura. United are normally very cloak-and-dagger about their transfer deals. Could it be a coincidence that all of this excitement, the tempting prospect of two new talents heading for Old Trafford, has something to do with the fact that the Reds still have season tickets for next season to sell? Van Persie, like every other football lover in the country, will have sat down to watch the Manchester derby on April 30, as City and United tussled for supremacy at the pinnacle of English football. Like everyone else who saw that game, he must have got the distinct impression that he was watching a fading empire being overthrown by a thrusting new power. United looked weak, timid and suffering from an inferiority complex, nothing like the Reds of old. City, without playing particularly well, looked like a team on a mission, brimming with determination and a sense of destiny. United, constricted by their debt and the Glazer family’s attempts to find ways of paying it off, could quite easily become the new Arsenal, unable to match the big clubs in spending power, and clinging to past glories. Van Persie has hinted that his next move will be to a club which will help him win things, after spending eight years at Arsenal with just an FA Cup winner’s medal to show for it. Having seen the derby, and then witnessed City celebrating the title as Fergie and his team looked punch-drunk at the Stadium of Light, surely the decision will have been made for him? In a nutshell, City can pay more to land him, they can pay van Persie more to attract him, and they can offer him a greater chance of winning trophies. Is there really a decision to be made? MEN.
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