When Robin Van Persie announced that he would not be signing a new deal with Arsenal in July 2012, he caused an uproar. Having been with the club since 2004 and established himself as the Gunners 8th all-time top scorer (with 132 goals), it was seen as something of a betrayal.
This was particularly true given the player’s injury history. The Dutchman spent much of his 8 years with the club out on the sidelines, whilst picking up a fairly healthy wage. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger showed prodigious amount of faith in Van Persie and it must have stung to see him leave the club under such egregious circumstances.
The Gunners made approximately £24m from his sale, but they’ve also been thrust into a transitional period, where they’ve got no real leading man in their squad. Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski were drafted in and they’ve both done decent jobs, but neither of them have the firepower of the Dutchman who scored 37 goals in his last season at the Emirates.
With Arsenal in the middle of a barren spell, RVP claimed he was leaving the club to start collecting silverware. In his first season with the Red Devils, he picked up a Premier League winner’s medal and the FA Community Shield. He must have felt like he made the right decision.
But since Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United, the club has entered crisis mode. United suffered their 8th loss of the season against Stoke City at the weekend and are already well and truly out of the title race. Indeed, with Arsenal still duking it out at the top of the Premier League table, I can’t help but wonder if Robin feels a little wistful for his old club.
The Mirror go a step further claiming that the 30-year-old ‘enjoys an uneasy relationship with David Moyes’ and isn’t a fan of the Scot’s training methods. They suggest that he could look for a way out of Old Trafford at the end of the season and that he’s keen to re-sign with Arsenal.
Things sure do change quickly in football, don’t they? Maybe he shouldn’t have listened to ‘the boy inside’ himself after all?
This could all be trumped up nonsense, but it does beg the question: would Arsenal take him back?
I sure hope not. RVP left the club in disarray and he did so to further his own career. If his fortunes are on the ropes, I’m sure that he’ll have plenty of other suitors. But at 30-years-old and with his injury record, he’s not the catch he used to be.
It’s time for the Gunners to look to the future. If they do sign a striker in the summer transfer window, I hope he’s young, technically gifted and raring to go. Just like Robin used to be.
What’s your take? Should Arsenal move in for Robin Van Persie again? How long will he stay with Manchester United?
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