Robin Van Persie - He Earns What He Wants

I am writing this while angry. I wouldn't often do that, but in this case I feel it justified.

News of Robin Van Persie's transfer to Manchester United has just broken, and I am left - like all Arsenal fans - feeling incredibly bitter about the whole affair. After his fucking manipulative announcement earlier this summer, we accepted a move was likely. It is the fact that he has chosen to move to not just an English team, but one of Arsenal's great rivals, that really stings. I am as cynical as they come about footballers' loyalties, but I did not expect this from the bloody Arsenal captain who showed so much fight last season. From the man who stated over and over again how much he believed in Wenger's philosophy and playing style. From the man who when Fabregas left, said:

"Keep in mind too he's not left to go to another English team..."

Football fans are often fickle, but in some ways that Arsenal fans are upset about the transfer goes to show how shocking and hurtful this one really is. Look at it objectively:

Man Utd have just paid $37m (Canadian) for a 29 year old with one year left on his contract and a worse injury record than Bruce Wayne. That $37m covers the transfer fee alone. Assuming that Van Persie is on wages close to 200k per week, and that he will sign a four year contract, they will have spent another $64.5m (Canadian) on his wages by the time his contract is up. In two years, he will be passed his prime. Lets not forget that United already have Rooney, Wellbeck and Berbatov Hernandez, and that they just bought Kagawa to play in attacking midfield. If they play 4-4-2 to accommodate RVP, they will be overrun in midfield in the bigger games. If they play with one up front, they have an almost unmanageable embarrassment of riches. The signing doesn't seem to make much sense from a United perspective.

And back to my point. Arsenal received a good amount of money for a player who has played one full season in the last eight, and whose chances of repeating last season's form are slim to none. They can use this money to reinvest in the team or to recoup some of what they have already spent on the exciting signings of Giroud, Podolski and Cazorla. And yet. And yet the selling of the club captain and top goal-scorer to an arch-rival is almost impossible to accept, especially with the sale of Alexandre Song to Barcelona seemingly imminent.

The rational side of me knows that this is good business, that the club will go on and may well improve given recent signings, that I shouldn't be surprised because footballers time and time again prove themselves to be mercenary wankers. But we can't be rational all the time, can we?

Fuck off, Van Persie. You were an Arsenal legend in the making. You are now merely a twat. A really, really rich twat.

At least we can take some comfort from this...