Reports: Arsenal Reject Juve Van Persie Bid

Reports in Italy today have suggested that Arsenal have turned down a bid of 10 million euros (£8m) from Italian champions Juventus for their star player Robin Van Persie. Arsenal a keen to keep hold of the Dutchman, but he has one year left on his current contract and appears to be stalling on signing a new deal.

Arsenal are in a position where if they receive a good enough offer, then they could well let their captain leave the club. They’re in the same situation with Van Persie that they were in last summer with Samir Nasri, and the Gunners let the Frenchman join Manchester City for a fee believed to be £20-25m.

Juventus are keen on adding a striker to their side having just lost club legend Alessandro Del Piero, but will have to come up with a much higher offer to tempt the Gunners into selling Van Persie. He is currently attracting the interest of many clubs around Europe, with Juventus, Manchester City and PSG all linked with moves for him. Juventus appear to be the first to have made their move, but it is thought that unless a massive offer comes in for Van Persie, the Gunners are willing to run the risk of him leaving on a free the following summer.

If Manchester City were to come in for Van Persie, they would have to get rid of some strikers. Roberto Mancini has admitted that it would be difficult to add the Dutchman to his team with the amount of options he currently has up front, but it is believed that Emmanuel Adebayor (coming back from a season-long loan at Tottenham), Roque Santa Cruz (returning from a season-long loan at Real Betis) as well as Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko could possibly leave City if it meant that Van Persie were to come to the club.

Having lost players such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri to Man City in recent years, Arsenal and their fans will not want to see their star striker do the same thing this summer. Arsenal would probably favour an offer from Juventus or PSG, and PSG certainly have enough money to buy the Dutch striker. One thing that is for sure is that Van Persie will not be leaving the club for anything like what Juventus have offered.

My personal opinion is that if we get a huge offer, we  will let Robin go. I want him to stay of course, but there are a few reasons why I think Arsenal would let him go. If he doesn’t want to be at the club, there is no point keeping him and losing him for nothing next year. Robin has been a great servant to the club, having been here since the summer of 2004. But despite how many years he has spent at the club, he has only been fully fit one full season (last season). So the chances are, he would get injured wherever he goes. If Van Persie went and got an injury in his first training session, the buyers won’t get their money back. If Arsenal kept him and he signed a new deal worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a week and then he got a long-term injury, Arsenal will be wasting their money.  Another thing I take into consideration is his age. He’s 29 next month and his injuries may catch up with him later in his career. He hasn’t too long left in him in my opinion.

He should stay at Arsenal because he is making a legend out of himself at the club. If he stays, he becomes a legend of Arsenal Football Club, joining the likes of Bergkamp, Wright and Henry on the list of fine strikers to be legends in red and white. If he goes, he may not have success elsewhere and may regret it. He’s captain at the club, a legend in the making and his family are happy and settled in London. I can’t understand why he would want to go myself, but he is certainly stalling on signing the new deal. Robin deserves a new deal at the club and Arsenal are offering him it. I think if Van Persie goes, he’ll see that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Look at the likes of Hleb, Petit and Flamini that have left and had less successful careers since. I just think Van Persie has a lot to gain by staying and a lot to lose by going. I’d love him to stay, but no individual is bigger than the club. If he stays, who knows… perhaps there will be a statue of Van Persie outside the Emirates in the not too distant future?.

One last thing about him going is that it would strengthen the idea that now we are a selling club. I don’t want that at all. But if a good enough offer comes in, Arsenal being Arsenal, will take the money. That’s the truth of the matter unfortunately. It isn’t good to keep selling your best players every summer and it appears to be an annual trend at the club nowadays, pretty well every year since Vieira left for Juventus in 2005. If Van Persie goes, then Walcott will probably want out too. It’s a horrible situation to be in and one that Arsenal have found themselves in all too often in recent years. The more years it goes on, the next year will be the same. This is the downside of selling a big player, as it sets the trend for players to do so in the future. Another big reason why I hope Van Persie stays. If he stays, it will help persuade others to stay put, but if he goes then our other key players will consider their futures. Walcott, like Van Persie, has a year left on his current deal, meaning Arsenal could potentially lose both for cash this summer, or both for nothing next summer.