RVP will not extend.

Sell him. I don't think we can expect him to play even close to as well as he did last season with this hanging over his head. Let some rich club take him off our hands (PSG I'm looking at you) while his value is still high.

It's going to be the same situation as with Cesc and Henry where he thinks he's too big for the club and won't put in a shift when we need him to. It's not about professionalism, Cesc and Henry were as professional as they come.

Wesley Wang wrote:Sell him. I don't think we can expect him to play even close to as well as he did last season with this hanging over his head. Let some rich club take him off our hands (PSG I'm looking at you) while his value is still high.

It's going to be the same situation as with Cesc and Henry where he thinks he's too big for the club and won't put in a shift when we need him to. It's not about professionalism, Cesc and Henry were as professional as they come.

Agreed...sell him you only have to look at past transfer sagas to see how damaging it can be for team and club morale...

I see it slightly different to the henry saga as titi was at least there and gunning til the end...cesc...well at the end of the day it was his boyhood club...any team would have found it hard keeping hold of him....as for clichy and nasri....money and instant fame shone its greedy little light in their eyes like rabbit's in fog lights....

We sold Clichy willingly. Pretty much everyone on here agreed he had plateaux-ed and was our weak link.

When I read the news I was very disappointed. I really thought that he was loyal and was gonna end his career with us. I am quite sure now (pretty late) that NO player is loyal. I thought Cesc was, Henry, adebayor etc.. Won't be surprised if TV leaves next year.

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure says Arsenal captain Robin van Persie would be an excellent edition to the squad at Emirates as City seek to retain their Premier League title next season.


"Robin is a top player. I've played with him, I know him and he's a great man," said the former Gunners centre-back. "At City we have great players and the club does what it wants in transfers.

"But for me, if Robin comes it's great because I know what he can do."




Cunt..enough said.

Oh and just to add people...I don't know if there is any thruth in it but Aparently we are going to the FA over man city tapping up van persie....

Aparently his agent spoke to them before his contract negotiations started....

All kinda falls into place now.....vp stalls,sees what they offer...destroys his links with us and moves on....

Also a cunt...enough said.

I wish we could keep him and 'let him rot' or so to speak but it's just unrealistic. Keep him and play him... sure. But we don't have the finances that Man City have to just bench him or whatever. But more importantly is the impact it will have on the squad with an unhappy, unsettled superstar at the club. To go from the club leader on and off the pitch to someone who doesn't want to be there knowing he doesn't rate some of the players at the club (Ramsey, Gervinho), it won't be a happy environment.

Problem is even if he does stay and play and says he's happy to, once it hits January he will start speaking to other clubs (as if he hasn't done so already) and then where will his mind be during the run in? We saw that with Fabregas.

I feel like we have to sell and I just hope the rumours of Juventus are true. If he moves abroad it will be a much lesser blow. And if he wants titles, Juventus is the place to be. They buy them all the time and have a manager under suspicion for match-fixing, perfect.

How about this: state in no uncertain terms that he won't be sold to a team in England. So try to get some bidding war between PSG, Juventus, and whoever else.

Then get these 4 players who could plug the gaps:
(1) Demba Ba. We saw how good he can be playing down the middle - his drop in form came when he was shunted to the side, I believe. Won't need time to bed into the PL. Only concern is his knees. -- 7m
(2) M'Vila. Done to death. -- 15-17m
(3) Dempsey. Goalscoring AM or LW who gives it his all. Won't need time to bed into the PL. -- 6m
(4) Debuchy. Cover at RB, can also play as a RW if needed. -- 9m (this seems to be the price bandied around.

And of course a goalkeeper to challenge Chesney, although probably not Lloris.

For those 4 you're looking at 37m + keeper price - RVP price. With those 4 we'll have strengthened our defence as well as added goalscoring options and depth in attack, possibly better than relying on an injury-prone but brilliant RVP. As to the concerns of bringing in so many players, well, needs must.

I should say that I've gone with Ba and Dempsey instead of, say, Llorente and Dzagoev/Gotze because I'm trying to be realistic financially. The former two are somewhat proven if not spectacular, the latter two are gambles and pricey. So, more of Arteta signings than Hazards. Of course, I would love for us to sign Gotze, whatever the cost. Can you imagine a midfield of M'Vila, Wilshere, Gotze? Damn.

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:

Firstly, love The Wire reference!

But, you have to accept we don't know all the info. For all we know, RVP laid it out in no uncertain terms a while ago what is needed to keep him. Arsenal haven't complied. He may have told them a month ago he was not renewing for all we know. All he has done is make it public now. Possibly in the naive interest of giving the supporters clarity.

Yeah, I just watched series 3 and 4 again after a long while (my 2 favourites). Brilliant show. Stringer Bell -Gooner!

Not having all the info is what drives the emotional turmoil for me - maybe time to take a step back!
I think it is plausible that RVP laid out a while ago what he would like in terms of squad additions , and what many supporters would probably have agreed was necessary.
But it is also in the way Wenger set his team out. In this last season it became apparent in the wake of Wilshire's injury that Wenger was going to stick with Ramsey as starting Central Mid and not stump up to buy someone like Mata (again, not all the info there either-couldn't match Chelsea's wage?).
It also became clear that Ramsey wasn't ready for it and Rosicky was back on the boil, but Wenger persisted in starting Ramsey for quite a few games. It is that kind of stubborness that causes people to question Wenger's decisions.
Do you remember seeing RVP's face when Wenger subbed off Chamberlain for Arshavin vs . United, albeit because of a hamstring tweak? "What?!??".
I think all these things add up.

i will gladly swap him with dzeko plus 5-10 millions or whatever we can get.
dont think man city can improve on a front line of aguero,balotelli and tevez.

i am damn sure even if persie goes on to have another successful couple of years in him, he wont be having a 30 goals season again.for all we know he might spend entire season on op table next year.
a trio of giroud+podolski+dzeko is more then capable of having 40 goals between them.

Fuck him, sell to highest bidder, get a max of money, but invest the money right away in transfer.

And fuck him again, of all the players, i respectected him the most.

Fuck you Robin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKksMZdJdgY

Does seem relevant... Venting helps...

This man uses too many words.

To be honest with you it made me laugh at myself (and at him) for being angry about this all... It's football. Why would RvP be different from the rest? Because he said so? He's handled this poorly and that's that. My favourite player, did us "gangster" but whatever, the world goes on. Arsenal will still be there, no matter how many players come and go...

You're right, watching this crazy man makes me feel a bit silly about my reaction, haha. Even with just Poldi and Giroud, with a couple more affordable signings to strengthen all around, we'll be fine. I think Goodplaya was spot on when he said: "... while at times it felt hard to imagine a Vieiraless or Henryless future, a RVP one is easier to deal with for me. Firstly because quite probably him staying or going is not the difference between us winning or not winning the title. Secondly because brilliant as RVP has been over the last 18 months, with Henry you felt that however long you lived, the likelihood was that you would never see a greater Arsenal player. That is not the case here."

Spot on with everything. When I was growing up, the words "football", "Premier League" or "Arsenal" were all synonymous with Henry... Every advert for broadcasting had him in it, or Vieira, or Dennis. Any Arsenal fan who says he doesn't love Henry anymore is flat out lying. That's why it was so hard to see him go. But with RvP, after the transfer sagas before his, we wisened up and it stayed in the back of our minds, the hurt that players can envoke, with a few simple words typed up by their lawyers. That's why this is less of a shock. What hurts though is that it's our captain again. It's Darren Dein AGAIN. It's another player saying the Club is not ambitious enough. To some extent true, but still doesn't warrant that statement on his website. He's stabbed Arsenal in the back. Yes we have other players coming in to look forward to. Van Persie is replaceable, no doubt about it. Yes he served well, but now all love is lost. Thanks, there's the door. Or the bench, I'm game for either. What I don't want is the team saying collectively "Oh ok, we dunno what to do" There's the whole preseason to come for them to gel together etc. I'm still frigging pumped for the new season/any football involving Arsenal whatsoever...

It would be absurd to keep him. His "statement" (more likely his agents) Has made it impossible to keep him. Arsenal was there for him when he was broken piece of shit and built him into the player he is today and then he goes around and releases that extremely unprofessional statement. No. Fucking. Way. should he stay.

It would be one thing if he didn't renew the contract and played out the last year like a professional. But he did just about the opposite. Sell him and move on.

The more I think about it (and read), the more I feel that both Podolski and Giroud will battle it out for the central striker position - Podolski won't be expected to play on LW unless needed. The stats show that he got the vast majority of his goals when played as a striker, as well as assists. Same for Giroud. If we do end up signing Dempsey, I feel he'll be primarily expected to play LW, competing with Gervinho. So a potential starting line up would be:

Chesney
Sagna Kos Verm Santos
Arteta M'Vila(!)
Wilshere
Walcott Podolski Dempsey


Alternatively:
Chesney
Sagna Kos Verm Gibbs
Arteta Song
Ramsey
Ox Giroud Gervinho

Decent options, all, but I still worry about the AM position. I feel, if we were to assume that RVP is definitely off, we need 5 signings (which won't happen):

- Dempsey or other LW
- M'Vila
- AM
- Backup GK
- Backup RB (I cannot believe we wouldn't be on Debuchy for 8-9m - can cover both RB and RW)

And if Walcott goes, would need a replacement there as well. Lots of work, even if the team looks decent enough anyway.

Good read abt Giroud + Poldi

http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/bbnyqzv2puupzuv1zaoiyq/Show/Team-Focus-Can-Arsenals-Strikeforce-Click

Zaid Derweesh wrote:- Backup RB (I cannot believe we wouldn't be on Debuchy for 8-9m - can cover both RB and RW)

As much as I'd like him at Arsenal, and for that price it seems a bargain, I don't think it'd be worth being interested in him. Can't see him wanting to join a club where he knows he'll play second fiddle to Sagna (the man whose position he wants in the French team). Debuchy will want first team football.

Dempsey isn't fast enough to play LW with the style of play we apply and formation.

How about Dempsey as CAM?

Benayoun played LW and he isn't that pacey.

Is Dempsey better than Rosicky in an Arsenal setup?

Is Dempsey better than Wilshire would be once he has six months football back under his belt?

I do like Dempsey though.