Arsenal Sold Robin Van Persie to Manchester United For $36 Million

All, Soccer Ty Duffy August 15th. 2012, 4:01pm

He leaves when he wants. He leaves when he Wah-ah-ahnts… Arsenal have agreed to sell striker and captain Robin Van Persie, the reigning EPL player of the year, to Manchester United for $36 million. The 29-year-old Dutchman is en route to Manchester, to agree to a contract and pass his physical.

For these two clubs to transfer players is exceedingly rare. The last Arsenal player to leave for Manchester United was Viv Anderson in 1987. The only other player to cross that line since was reserve defender Mikael Silvestre in 2008. It is a sign, in the mega-cash era, the two clubs no longer view each other as primary rivals and the clubs are no longer rivaling for the same stature.

For Manchester United: Glass half-full, this may be a brilliant signing. Since 2008, Van Persie has 89 goals and 46 assists in 147 appearances. Man U now has the EPL’s two top scorers from last season. Both are versatile and link up play well. With Welbeck and Chicharito, United should have the deep, versatile strike force to let them keep up with Manchester City. He will be the player they thought they were getting when the paid heavily for Dimitar Berbatov and give them firepower they haven’t seen since Ronaldo left.

Glass half-empty, It is a hefty price for a 29-year-old player coming off a career season, who at best has two or three more seasons at peak form. Van Persie’s injury history should be especially worrisome, since he has made 40 appearances just three times in his 11-year professional career. He had missed at least 10 EPL matches per season every year until 2011-12. In an ideal world, Manchester United’s major signing would have been five years younger and a dynamic midfielder.

For Arsenal: In a vacuum, this deal makes sense. Van Persie is 29. He has one year left on his contract and would not sign a new one. Manchester United met Arsenal’s asking price. The asking price, for a player in his circumstances, was a steep one. The club had already prepared for this eventuality by signing two players, Giroud and Podolski, who played his position.

In context, this deal will be hard to swallow. This continues the pattern of Arsenal as feeder club. Van Persie departs just after Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy left last season. More top players leaving means more players behind them itching to depart. This signing hurts especially. He wasn’t going home to Barcelona, or letting Manchester City double his salary (He won’t make significantly more at Man United). Van Persie is leaving because he feels the club lacks ambition. The only financial flexibility obtained from the new Emirates Stadium seems to rest with the shareholders who cashed out.

[Photo via Getty]

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29 Responses to “Arsenal Sold Robin Van Persie to Manchester United For $36 Million”

1
H-town Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Where is Van Persie going to play now? They might drop Rooney back to play as a 10 but thats gonna take away his goal scoring opportunities and abilities. Really dont understand why Man U made this deal, they should of gone for a creative midfielder instead to support Rooney and 1 of their 3 others fwds. Someone like Sneijder after missing out on Hazard
2
BFFredo Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:10 PM
Van Persie is leaving because he feels the club will not win anything.
If you really believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in the middle of the ocean.
van Persie is leaving because he wanted a bigger, fatter paycheck. It’s his last major contract and he wanted to maximize his earning potential. He and his agent may have thought that his statement would create a feeding frenzy for his services but the fact that only Juventus and Manchester United were even interested — and Juventus at a low valuation of 8 million pounds — tells you all you need to know.
United didn’t need to make this deal. They needed Javi Martinez, who today left Bilbao for Bayern. RVP will just be their new Berbatov at best.
As for Arsenal, I don’t think it affects them as much as last year’s losses did. For one, they were ready. And given the statement was over a month old, everyone’s been ready for this to happen.
3
Ty Duffy Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:13 PM
Sneijder is basically immoveable from Inter unless he’s willing to take a significant pay cut to depart.
4
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:15 PM
Where is Van Persie going to play now? They might drop Rooney back to play as a 10 but thats gonna take away his goal scoring opportunities and abilities. Really dont understand why Man U made this deal, they should of gone for a creative midfielder instead to support Rooney and 1 of their 3 others fwds. Someone like Sneijder after missing out on Hazard
Did you miss them signing Kagawa?
Also Sneijder has been horrible for two years.
5
Ty Duffy Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:16 PM
van Persie is leaving because he wanted a bigger, fatter paycheck.
We’ll see if the contract terms emerge. But I would imagine it won’t be much more than Arsenal would have paid him, enough to be strictly a money move.
6
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:18 PM
If you really believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in the middle of the ocean.
van Persie is leaving because he wanted a bigger, fatter paycheck.
If he just wanted the money he could have waved a hand to Zenit or Anzhi to come get him. He’s undeniably in a better position to win and while yes he clearly wanted more money, there’s something to be said for a club that is willing to pay its talisman at comparable rates. Problem is, Arsenal operate in fiscal reality so doing that makes little sense.
7
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:18 PM
We’ll see if the contract terms emerge. But I would imagine it won’t be much more than Arsenal would have paid him, enough to be strictly a money move.
Saw £225k banded about on the internets. What was he on at Arsenal?
8
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:20 PM
United didn’t need to make this deal. They needed Javi Martinez, who today left Bilbao for Bayern. RVP will just be their new Berbatov at best.
This is true though. Still have not replaced Roy Keane.
9
ar1186 Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:23 PM
And given the statement was over a month old, everyone’s been ready for this to happen.
They hoped for Juve and expected City, but for him to go to United is really shitty at symbolic level. Like with Liverpool and Torres, the fans were convinced that the club was reasonably good enough, and the player emotionally invested enough, that they wouldn’t bolt for a rival.
10
BFFredo Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:25 PM
We’ll see if the contract terms emerge. But I would imagine it won’t be much more than Arsenal would have paid him, enough to be strictly a money move.
Saw £225k banded about on the internets. What was he on at Arsenal?
£70K a week or so. Arsenal’s offer was going on in the £130K a week range.
£130K or £225K and it’s not about the money??
11
ar1186 Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:26 PM
But considering that Henry, Cesc, Viera, Cole, Flamini, Nasri, Hleb, have all done the same thing in years past, Arsenal is probably best, pragmatically and psychologically, to weather the loss.
12
ol' scrappy grinder Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:26 PM
Saw £225k banded about on the internets. What was he on at Arsenal?
I’ve heard 90k sterling a week. One of the reasons, Arsenal has had difficulties holding on to players is that they’ve had 100k limit for a number of years.
Also Sneijder has been horrible for two years.
I’d rather have Charlie Adams instead of Sneijder at this point. At least, he’s good for a good Bale mauling every once in awhile.
13
Ty Duffy Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Saw £225k banded about on the internets. What was he on at Arsenal?
The highest substantiated figure I’ve seen for Rooney is about £180K per week. Van Persie will be less than that.
14
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:29 PM
That 225 figure could be wrong mind you. Wouldn’t be shocked if it’s 200 though.
Hazard is allegedly getting 175 which is fucking absurd.
I feel Arsenal fans’ pain. Suarez just got a raise to 125 and he’s got a much longer run ahead of him than RVP. That’s about as high as Liverpool will go, because again, operate within fiscal reality (now that dipshit Comolli and co. are gone).
FFP will change all of this though. Just kidding FFP is a farce.
15
Ty Duffy Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:30 PM
It should be more than he would have gotten at Arsenal, but it’s not the same thing as Nasri getting a £90K per week offer from Arsenal and £185K per week from Man City.
16
BFFredo Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:30 PM
They hoped for Juve and expected City, but for him to go to United is really shitty at symbolic level. Like with Liverpool and Torres, the fans were convinced that the club was reasonably good enough, and the player emotionally invested enough, that they wouldn’t bolt for a rival.
Like I said, there was an expectation of potential suitors that never materialized. The one team I’m surprised didn’t make a move was Chelsea given they’ve lost Drogba, Kalou and Anelka and are loaning Lukaku out. That puts all the onus on Torres.
Beyond that, like I said, Juve sniffed around but got to rich for them and City may never have been a factor. They’re loaded with strikers that they can’t give away!
I’d rather have Charlie Adams instead of Sneijder at this point.
That says it all.
17
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:30 PM
The highest substantiated figure I’ve seen for Rooney is about £180K per week. Van Persie will be less than that.
Ah. Could’ve been one of those calculating in bonuses and the like things then.
Your point is valid though, if it was strictly for money, he’d be elsewhere.
18
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:32 PM
It’s Charlie Adam, but I’d like to think it’s become plural because he’s so fucking fat.
19
oranjebleeder Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:39 PM
As a Gunners fan, this pains me, but it was a fait accompli.
At least Arsene loaded up on three pretty good value transfers this summer.
I wish RvP the best, but I hope the ManU trainers have purchased a big supply of horse placentas to keep Robin’s milk chocolate legs from breaking down.
20
BFFredo Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:42 PM
Your point is valid though, if it was strictly for money, he’d be elsewhere.
Where else? No other club came a-knocking. Not Anzhi. Not Zenit. Not PSG (they wouldn’t after landing Ibrahimovic). There really was no other place for him to go cause there was no market for him.
The fact that Arsenal got 24 million pounds for him is a minor miracle.
21
ar1186 Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:46 PM
Like I said, there was an expectation of potential suitors that never materialized.
Yeah, that’s definitely how it played out, and this deal can even be good for Arsenal if it augments the finances and balances the squad out. But as Duffy mentioned, we’ve grown accustomed to the conveyor belt of transfers to Barcelona and City, and rationalized/made excuses for it. This confirms that all of our players are up for sale, at the right price, to any club with the money, no exceptions. That’s a weird reality for a supposedly ‘big’ club to get used to.
22
rambo.cts Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:52 PM
I saw an article that stated it is for 15 million pounds up front and the rest is all add ons based on appearances/championships. Still think its a good deal for both teams because if Rooney goes down now they have someone who can fill in. Still think MUFC need a LB and CM, but I highly doubt they buy a CM. That Henriquez from CHile who MUFC just bought looks like he is a pretty good player, but my guess is he will be loaned back out to his old team.
I love how this deal overshadowed the Martinez to Bayern transfer. Munich will be very good again next year.
23
BFFredo Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:53 PM
Yeah, that’s definitely how it played out, and this deal can even be good for Arsenal if it augments the finances and balances the squad out. But as Duffy mentioned, we’ve grown accustomed to the conveyor belt of transfers to Barcelona and City, and rationalized/made excuses for it. This confirms that all of our players are up for sale, at the right price, to any club with the money, no exceptions. That’s a weird reality for a supposedly ‘big’ club to get used to.
True but that’s always been the case. We sold Anelka to Real and Overmars and Petit to Barcelona. In came in Henry, Pires and Ljungberg. Kept on going.
The problem now is the over-valuation of talent because of the petro-dollar clubs (Chelsea first, then Zenit, now Man City, Anzhi, PSG). They pay way over the odds to get talent and then cause a ripple effect where every other player thinks “I’m better than that guy. I want to be paid as good or better!”
Unfortunately, as we’re finding out with clubs like Malaga and Portsmouth, when the petro-dollars leave, things turn ugly.
24
rambo.cts Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:53 PM
When does Wilshire come back for Arsenal? Liked watching him play when he was healthy
25
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:58 PM
That Henriquez from CHile who MUFC just bought looks like he is a pretty good player, but my guess is he will be loaned back out to his old team.
No fucking way should he get a work permit, so he should have to get loaned back. But United ALWAYS get the work permit rulings in their favor.
When does Wilshire come back for Arsenal? Liked watching him play when he was healthy
October at the earliest. Better hope for Arsenal that it doesn’t turn out like Ramsey and he’s a shell of himself after the injury.
26
rambo.cts Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 5:01 PM
In regards to the work permit, Robbie Rogers and Robbie Findley got work permits so doubt that will be a problem. The kid looked like a beast at the Milk Cup. Do any of the big clubs lose work permit hearings?
27
Maxwell Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 5:08 PM
Selling him to Man U is pretty terrible. The only silver lining is that Van Persie has pretty much exposed the move to be about money. I had been in his corner completely, but once they signed Cazorla the club were right in the mix for silverware. It finally was the situation he had rightly been expecting/demanding for the last couple of years.
The delta in pay is probably going to be at least 50k a week which isn’t chump change over a 4 or 5 year deal.
28
ar1186 Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 5:19 PM
The problem now is the over-valuation of talent because of the petro-dollar clubs (Chelsea first, then Zenit, now Man City, Anzhi, PSG).
This is true for the game in general (and I’m not sure it’s necessarily a bad thing either), but that doesn’t tell the whole story for all of Arsenal’s transfers. There’s still something wrong when players like Song, Hleb, Flamini are willing to leave a starring role at Arsenal to rot on the bench somewhere else, even if those clubs do have more prestige. Arsenal is a club that has to accrue and develop a team, over several seasons and transfer windows; there’s some progress to be claimed when they sell a player for a ridiculous price to an oil money team, but it’s the smaller losses that destroy whatever development narrative we’ve told ourselves over the last eight years.
29
molemaninthemorning Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 6:28 PM
In regards to the work permit, Robbie Rogers and Robbie Findley got work permits so doubt that will be a problem. The kid looked like a beast at the Milk Cup. Do any of the big clubs lose work permit hearings?
Both had represented their full national teams well before they moved to England. You have to either meet the number of games for your nation’s A team in a certain period or be granted an “exceptional talent” exemption.
Sebatsian Coates got through on the exceptional talent exemption because he was the Copa America young player of the tournament.
Liverpool lost their permit application for Mark Gonzalez even though he had represented Chile at the A level. This kid has not. But you can bet if United appeal for an exemption they will get it.