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Ferguson: 'We Have Made A Bid for van Persie'

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has revealed that his club`s pursuit of Arsenal captain Robin van Persie continues, with a second bid having been put down by the Old Trafford club.

Ferguson told the official Manchester United website, 'We have made a bid and they've been trying to negotiate with other clubs,' said Ferguson.

'I don't have a gut feeling on it at the moment, I must admit. We're not getting any breakthrough with Arsenal. It's difficult to say why they're operating this way. I don't know what their thoughts are because they're not giving anything away.'

Arsenal not too keen on selling their top scorer and captain to a rival. Yes, of course. Very difficult to see why we`re operating in this way. It would appear that the admiration between United and van Persie is mutual, but Arsenal of course stand to disrupt this tricky trifecta. I`m sure Arsene Wenger would hack wildly at his testes with a rusty spoon than hand his captain over to Ferguson.

There again, van Persie can make himself a real pain in the arse for a year and then just go there for free next year if he wanted. It`s a tricky situation for sure. Personally, I favour a scorched earth policy. Arsene should e mail a picture of his arse to Fergie then have Vermaelen snap Robin in half in training. Or maybe sell him first then snap him? Either way, I`m cool. LD.

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Writer: Tim Stillman

Date:Thursday August 9 2012

Time: 9:39AM

Your Comments

Not proud of it, but I'm hating RvP more and more as this saga unfolds and seeing his smug face on the AFC picture updates. The only way I'd stomach him going to Manure is if they pay 25m minimum. They'd be welcome to him at that price at that age. I definitely think he'll end up there because they did that with Spuds holding out for Berbatov. Once Fergie wants a player, Manure are rich enough to go and get him and missing out on Moura will make his want RvP even more. Just hope it happens quickly and we ourselves reinvest some of that money into another top player. As for RvP, I wish him plenty of time where he's spent most of his career. T*sser.

Gooner_Vin

" It would appear that the admiration between United and van Persie is mutual" is there anything concrete to back this up? I've seen the press reports suggesting that U*d is RVP's preferred destination but I haven't seen quotes from the man himself or anything that would lead me to believe this is true. Good piece btw.

Bluedub

Guess work on my part bluedub, but the signs are there. United must be getting some kind of encouragement from van Persie's advisors if they're making a second bid and to speak publicly about it.

Little Dutch

You know for one of the greatest football coaches ever to live (Yes he's a coach, Wenger is a manager), he really is thick as s*** sometimes. I'll go with LD's scorched earth scenario. Keep him, make him train with the reserves, only serve him pizza, cake and lager in the canteen, give him boots that are two sizes too small, and get Vermaelen to take freekick practise on his knackers.

Rocky7

Thanks for the response LD. Intrigued to see how this one plays out given the bollox that Bacon was talking earlier in the summer about investing in youth.

Bluedub

He's definitely not thick, why would anyone say that? It's a wind up, there's always this comedic undercurrent to what he's said over the years, he says things that on the surface would appear to be ridiculous and have you whirling in indignation, but the reality is he says everything with an end goal in sight.

shewore

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/233492399391903744/photo/1/large Picture from training today. Stories of van Persie being on a plane to Manchester are clearly *********.

Rocky7

Scorched Earth all the way for me too ;-)

julieloveshenry4ever

Its a real kick in the nuts that the RvP to United story has legs. Imagining RvP with the red devil badge makes me want to hurl! If we make RvP see out his contract, it will be difficult to go and buy more players of a defensive mould because our squad players - Chamkah, Arshavin, Bendtner wont fetch much money. It will be then important for further squad strengthening to sell Theo - another player with 1 year left on the contract. If given a choice to select 1 player who will stay - I prefer Theo who can continue to develop with us and can potentially give us service for another 7-8 years. Its important that we generate some funds to plug the gaps in the backup keeper, defensive midfielder and full back roles.

Deltaforce

That said, it will be fabulous if a big foreign club puts in an acceptable bid for RvP but Madrid and Barca seem unusually cautious in the transfer market with other spanish clubs hankering for a larger slice of the TV money pie. AC Milan and Inter Milan have gone into a slumber because their benefactors are suffering financially. Juventus seem to have the money to pay RvP but not the 20 million to us...PSG has already splurged insane amount of money on Ibra, Silva and Moura and wont possibly splurge more. Our options to sell RvP abroad sadly seem very limited.

Deltaforce

I think any option to sell him abroad is a non starter regardless of who's interested, because it's all very well us being ok with selling him somewhere, but if he doesn't want to go, he won't sign.

Little Dutch

If RVP had any real loyalty to the club he would've agreed a deal to sign a short term contract to keep his price high and then left at the end of the season. At the moment it really feels like we're being held to ransom. Johnny Pundit reckons we should sell, which is all well and good so long as in doing so we're not giving our direct rivals the tools to scupper our own chances of silverware and income. Save £15m, lose £30m in the long run? Have to say the scorched earth policy looks mighty attractive to me at the moment.

Wyn Mills

It wouldn't be great business sense, or ideal in any other way, but I'd really love it if we just held him to the last 12 months of his contract .... and then played him in the Carling Cup matches only.

Rocky7

If we do keep RvP against his will, it would be quite satisfying personally. In that scenario though, he should play every big game if fit. He is acting like a plank but there's no question that he is an absolutely top player and a major goal threat whether as scorer or creator.

Deltaforce

Doesn't he automatically get a buy-out option when his contract has only six months to go ? - If so then yes keep him and make him play in the first group matches of the CL too....that will make him nice and unattractive - a top striker who is cup-tied in the CL !! ha ha...

radarman

Hi, Little Dutch. From the Sir Red Nose quotes, it would seem that we have told them to eff off, but they keep tugging insistently at AW's sleeve - probably, as you say, because of encouragement from RvP's "people". However, I gleaned two interesting snippets from a Steve Stammers chat on TalkSport . Firstly, AW decides these matters, not the Board and if he wants to keep RvP and let him go on a free next summer, that is what will happen. And secondly, if a player wants to leave againt Wenger's wishes, he will sell, but only if a buyer meets his valuation. With Nasri, he wanted £22-25 million and City came up with it. He wasn't forced by the Board - it was his choice.

FunGunner

And he wants £30 million for RvP. Is what I should have added. Problem for Sir Red Nose is that ManUre policy (post Berbatov) is not to pay high transfer fees for over-26s.

FunGunner

Robin van Persie is going to be 30 by the time the 2013/14 season kicks off, keeping him till then will make him that much less attractive to pay £220,000 per week to, especially if he hasn't played much football in the last 12 months. Arsene Wenger holding him to his contract would be a huge statement to players across the league. It would be beautifully ruthless and I'd love to see it. If we have the money to spare then ***** it, lets make a statement of intent.

Rocky7

Aye, I'm certain AW has the biggest say in these matters.

Little Dutch

I wouldn't be so sure, if the yank grey suits see the dollar bills flashing in their eyes then I think they'll take it. They pay Arsene the most in Europe to be the lightening rod for these sorts of situations.

shewore

Not from what I hear. Arsene is very much a dictator with Stan a very distant party. Wouldn't make much sense anyway, they can't get their hands on any transfer monies, it just goes back into the TPA, which has to be used on the playing staff due to the terms of the stadium loans.

Little Dutch

And it would most definitely be a statement of intent, Rocky. make no mistake about it, selling our leading striker directly to a major rival would never be sending out the right message, no matter how many truckloads of cash were involved.

Wyn Mills

So what do you think would happen if we sell for say, 25m? Has that been spent already? Or would it be reinvested through this TPA vehicle.

shewore

Hard to say. We don't have any time limit to spend it, but we can't actually do anything else with it other than put it into the playing side. Maybe we'll spend it on a new contract for Diaby.............

Little Dutch

Lets not talk about an ideal scenario where we hold RvP to his final year, its just not realistic! We need to get rid, but I hate the idea of him going to ManU. Things may have changed between the managers, but I still dislike ManU as a team/club more than Man City. For me, the rivalry has been diluted but not my feelings towards that club. I don't mind selling him to Juve for a lower fee (not substantially lower but a diff of 3-4M should be acceptable). How the hell does RvP think he can justify a move to one of the Manchester clubs and expect fans to understand?

prits

ah, Diaby, that old chesnut. All together now "like a new signing"

shewore

If the prospect of selling abroad is a non-starter then keep him. It would be a nonsense to be giving our main rivals our top-scoring striker. If he stays he has to perform to maintain his salary value and if that means success for Arsenal then I reckon that’s worth the £20m transfer fee we’d be losing.

Sir Henry

Fergie is beginning to tick me off. Has been making stuff public he need not, making us out to be the villains with a carefully rehearsed choice of words. He is acting really desperate, in my view and Wenger needs to stay calm and handle this with the club's pride in mind.

Naijagunner

Naijagunner I think you have hit the nail on the head there. Desperate because they have been blown out of the water by PSG regarding Lucas and Manure needs a least another top top signing, much more than we do if they are going to challange MC for the title. IF we hold on to RvP we will, IMHO, be going into the new season with a stronger squad than MU.

Armory

From the 3 options of holding on to him, selling to Red face and to MCFC, i would rather sell to MCFC than MUFC. Selling to MCFC will creat uproar among there endless list of players and strikers with no playing time. Selling to MUFC will give them option to sell Berbertov and recoup money from whatever they paid us and place RVP as a starter.

Arseniger

Best option is hold on to him (Kroenke's money and not mine), or Sell to MCFC to add no value and create kios. MUFC looks so beatable without a proven striker.

Arseniger

Ferguson is a crafty old fox. RVP is a proven Premiership striker. We KNOW that a fit RVP will bang in at least 20 goals a season. It's why, even at the age of 29, he's attracting keen interest from the likes of old Red Nose. The first thing he'll do is instruct Giggs to sign Robin up to his yoga classes, cancel all international leave and a fit RVP will be scoring goals for fun next season. I can really see us regretting the day we allowed such a lethal marksman to just walk away without a fight.

Wyn Mills

Make him play. He has a contract, he has had a career's-worth of support from one of Europe's finest clubs, and his career has blossomed with us. He can either a) show a good attitude, earning his money every week and remaining a good Arsenal player or b) sulk/be awful, see out his last year, and face having to find a new club at 30, unfit, out of form, and having reneged on his contract. The worst case scenario there is that we have a great reserve team striker who we're paying too much money - God knows we know how that feels!

Like Arseniger said, easier to say when it's Stan's money and not mine... but how much is he worth to us - how much would you take for him? Last season's player of the year, in a squad/team/club/city he knows well (no settling-in time), for one final season - what price do you put on that? I'd want a good 15-20 to let him go. Conversely, if you're interested in buying him, what's he worth to you - a near 30 yr old, with a history of injuries, who has to come to a new club and get used to everyone/the area/the club/the manager, not be top dog anymore... are you getting the Arsenal RvP or the Netherlands RvP? How much of your transfer budget do you risk on him settling and staying fit, bearing in mind he'll have limited sell-on value? I can see why this one is running on and on.

damiano_tommassi

It's not Kroenke's money and it's not Kroenke's decision. I agree with Sir Henry on the whole - the player is of more use to us than the money and we don't want to strengthen a rival. I also suspect that SAF is just trying to make it look to Manure fans and prospective investors as if they can go for anyone they want. They've lost out on a few big players recently. We can't force RvP to go to a club unless he wants to play for them, but equally we don't need to sell and no-one can force us to. I think AW will just see what the options are next week and then make a final decision. I hope so, anyway.

FunGunner

And reports are that RvP training like a model pro. Which would make sense from his point of view.

FunGunner

On the Fergie bid thing, I have never felt he had any serious intentions beyond putting up a show for United fans and perhaps (an angle to consider, as obtained from the Vital City site), drive up the club's share price, especially as that IPO on the NYSE hots up. Why hasn't he mentioned the bid amount, since he has chosen to go public? something he again, quite condescendingly, suggested Arsenal did with their 'first bid'.

Saying..."We have made a bid and they’ve been trying to negotiate with other clubs.....It’s difficult to say why they’re operating this way" is rather rude and suggests there is a sense of entitlement, acquired from years of 'getting what they want' with clubs (not Wenger's Arsenal, quite happily). My take is that his words are intended to appease restive fans in the hope that the mere insinuation of some improbable behaviour by the Arsenal Management will make him out to be trying hard to get that signing he so desperately needs and score points with his adoring fans. Well, someone needs to remind him the player belongs to Arsenal and we will sell when we want to and to whom ever we choose to, so long as his contract remains with us.

Naijagunner

Senile fart! I daresay, they cannot afford van Persie. If they can, then let him roll the dice.

Naijagunner

There is some seriousness here. Reports saying RvP is more serious about ManU than City, that cant have been put out by Fergie - more likely RvP's camp. With Man City supposedly looking at Damiao, it leaves Juve and ManU to fight it out.

prits

The TPA doesn't exist in any formal sense. There is no obligation under the stadium loans, neither the fixed rate bonds or the smaller floating rate notes. That story lingers on from conditions attached to the bank loans which expired when the stadium was re-funded under the long term bond scheme. None of which alters the fact that AW has full control over his budget for the playing side and only if he needs to exceed it does the board get involved beyond fixing the budget annually.

Amos.

And he wonders why strangers walk up and punt him in the goolies.

nikolaijns

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Ferguson: 'We Have Made A Bid for van Persie'

Writer: Tim Stillman

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