Ferguson Confirms RvP Bid

I say swap him for Welbeck.

Would rather him go to juve, even if they offer less then Manchester 1 and 2. We can't keep selling to these clubs. We are supposed to be trying to catch these clubs next season, how can we do that if we give them our top striker? Either send him to Italy or let his contract run down and see if city or utd will be willing to give an injury prone striker hitting 30 a fat long contract. It won't happen. 130 grand a week with a 5 million bonus will all of a sudden seem very lucrative. Robin has burnt bridges with the fans, unfortunately his greed (let's not kid ourselves it's not about money) has ruined any chance of immortality at this club. I keep looking at his record at arsenal over the last eight years and I can't help but think of ady......soon as he is flavour of the month he wants out. Has left a bad taste in my mouth. If he stays then great, If he goes then good luck to him, I won't lose any sleep over it that's for sure, another player will step into his boots as with Henry, fabregas etc......all in all I'm kind of bored of it now and just want it sorted one way or another.

If we don't show some balls for a change City and Utd will be back for Wilshere next year.

Agree with gunnerman76. Sell him abroad, for less money if we have to. I can't see any other credible option. The ball is in Arsenal's court here, RVP wants to go to Italy - make it happen.

While its understandable that the club would want to recover as much from players departing to help re-invest into the squad, Juventus should be a clear option for us to sell to followed by AC Milan. The Milan lab could help prolong RVP's career and he would be cheaper for AC to buy than Tevez. After the loss of Ibrahimovic Milan would look to purchase a player who is a striker as well as creator and there are few better players of that ilk than RVP. Pity that RVP's time at the club had to come to such a bitter end. His agent crafted statement on his website must go down as one of the most ill advised PR initiatives in sport of all time.

Like many others, I feel really bitter about RvP's decision. With Fabregas it was resignation, but with RvP I feel really angry. Just getting sick and tired of this every summer. We should just come out and say that this is our asking price, if it isn't matched by x date, then RvP will see out his contract and that's that. What a mess of a club we've become the past few years.

HBB, considering Spurs lost Berbatov, Keane, Carrick, Campbell and now will lose Modric all to bigger clubs, thats rich coming from you.

HBB. You mean like when Arsenal won the double? That should do it right? That should keep players happy, yeah? Didn't stop Overmars, Petit or Anelka wanting to jump ship. A squad and set up capable of going an entire season unbeaten didn't stop Vieira having his head turned. The truth is, not Arsenal, Spurs or any club means as much to these players as it does to the fans, they are career driven, money first, trophies a distant second. Want evidence? Look no further than the flock of talent to Man City, a club that last won a major trophy when Spurs were lifting cups.

Prits I respect your opinion but mine is that it is more to do with money then he would like us to believe. It's his last BIG contract, let's not kid ourselves that he isn't thinking about his financial future. As for comparing him to ady, I wasn't comparing there personalities, just the fact that after there best season for the club, all of Europe was talking them up, then they both wanted out. For that reason I think it's fair to compare. Robin just has a better PR then ady, hence some people thinking its all about the glory and nothing about the green.

I love this whole 'feeder club' spin. Considering we are consistently in the top 5 clubs in the world, ref Forbes/deloitte's, we are considerably more valuable then the club we are supposed to be 'feeding'. Our worldwide fan base dwarfs that of our 'sugar daddy' club. The fact that the rich boys toys are flashing the cash at so many of our players proves to me that wenger is doing something right. And the fact that many have left but we still manage to finish the season as the 3rd best club after everyone wrote us off to finish even in the top 6 says a lot about our club. It proves to me that regardless of which player leaves, arsenal football club will still be here and still proving people and the media wrong. Last season was one of wengers greatest achievements as arsenal manager in my opinion, with the amount of times he had the rug pulled from under him......fighting against the new money in football.....nasri, fabregas, wilshere, diaby wiped off the squad sheet for one reason or another, playing half a season with no fullbacks and relying on one striker, not forgetting the confidence sapping start to the season. Delusional media talking of us sinking into a relegation battle. Taking all that into account, a 3rd place finish was a HUGE achievement. I would like to see utd, city, spuds and Chelsea lose there star players over the summer and see where they would finish. We actually bettered our previous season, so regardless what people say about how our club is run, we are still heading in the right direction. So 1st or 2nd next season and I will be happy ;)

Oh really, gunnerman76? I heard this absolute gem the other day from an Arsenal season ticket holder: " If we don't sack Wenger we will wake up in a few years' time and see Wilshire holding up a Spurs shirt and saying how he needed to move on to a bigger club that can match his ambition". :)

Thanks LD, just didn't think I needed Fergie to tell us so, unless the media let him in on it. It is true that clubs use the media as much as the media use the clubs but I am yet to hear a rival Manager make an issue of it when there is NO official evidence. Some attempt at gamesmanship by Fergie, which I thought was ill-advised. He is a respected manager so I hope he knows what he is doing.

I think it's downright certain we made it public, glad we did too. Well within our interests to start a bidding war, not in Fergie's interests at all. Holding him to his deal is an option, but for me, in practise that never works. It's toxic even in the corporate world to have someone that doesn't want to be there.

And then you woke up? Hey I heard a gem from this spud season ticket holder....he wished that spurs could have a stadium half as good as the grove......pinch of salt HBB?

Wyn, it was in van Persie's interests to leave the club this summer and the statement he issued was designed to make his position at the club untenable. If he was fine with not signing a new contract but seeing the current one out, he would not have got his agent to issue such a strong statement questioning the club's ambitions as well as the ability of his team mates. RvP wont get a more lucrative contract next year compared to this year. Given that RvP can start negotiating a new contract with a rival club as early as January next year and will likely play within his limits to not get injured before that, it would be best for all concerned to sell him if a reasonable offer from overseas comes in. If on the other hand very low offers come in, then he should be forced to see his contract through.

I have to agree. All he had to say was that he wasn't extending his contract, I'm sure he wouldn't have a lot of gooners on his back if he just did that. A lot of other supporters are saying we are just whinging because he wants to leave. I think most gooners were expecting him to at least run down his contract, leaving most of us disappointed but certainly not aggrieved. There was just no need to stab arsene wenger in the back with those comments. We all know why he did.....to force the move this window. The sooner he secures a new contract the fatter it will be. Please don't tell me it's not about money and open your fu(king eyes. I would be the first to defend robin to the hilt, I really thought he had more integrity then most footballers. Seems he proved me wrong, but the game is dictated by mega contracts now, and players put the size of the contract ahead of there actual 'footballing' aspirations.....as to which club they would love to play for. Apparently podolski got offered some eye bulging contracts to play in Russia and the middle east (bearing in mind this is his last big contract) it says a lot about a man who obviously loves football. The kind of level headed players we need at our club. Henry pretty much always said he would only ever play for Barcelona regardless of what money was thrown at him, and he was true to his word. He never held the club to ransom, but then money was not his goal. I'm sure playing in the states he earns a fair few quid, but I wouldn't blame anyone in the twighlight of there career accepting ridiculous contract offers if teams are going to be stupid and desperate enough to sign a 32 year old striker. Just offload him abroad, if juve offer 15 mill then snap there bloody hand off.