Club Goes To War Over Van Persie

Roberto Mancini is ready to go to war with senior officials at Manchester City over their pursuit of Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, according to the Mirror.

The Dutchman has only one year left on his current contract and the Mirror claim he has refused to sign a contract extension after telling manager Arsene Wenger he is fed up of not winning trophies.

Further talks between the two parties are expected when the 28-year-old returns to pre-season early next month, but the Gunners fear they may have to sell their captain this summer.

Manchester City are keen to take advantage of RVP’s situation and offer him an escape route from north London, with the Premier League champions reportedly willing to offer him a bumper pay-package as well as the chance to win silverware.

Senior management at the Etihad have made it clear the club must cut their wage bill before any move for Van Persie can be made, with Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Edin Dzeko all available.

However, boss Roberto Mancini has made Van Persie his number one transfer target this summer and is demanding the club make their move to land the striker as soon as possible. It’s believed that the Italian is ready to go head-to-head with his bosses to ensure he gets his man.

FT Verdict

It’s been a couple of days since the Mirror reported on the RVP situation, can’t say I’ve missed it too much to be honest. Manager want’s player now, the money-men want to sell first. What’s new?

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It sounds like Man City are making the assumption that Arsenal will sell and that even if we did, that Robin will join them. It would be crazy for Wenger to allow yet another one of his best players to join City and i honestly think the club would rather see him run down the final year of his contract than sell him to City.

And would Van Persie move to the Etihad? I’m not convinced. Yes he’ll earn more, and yes he’ll have more chance of winning trophies. But he will LOSE something that he might consider more valuable; the love from the Arsenal faithful. I’m not sure he’ll risk losing his legendary status as the Emirates by ‘doing a Nasri’. Plus, didn’t his own father say recently that a move to another Premier League team was impossible? Nuff said.

I’m certain this won’t be the last report on the future of Van Persie, but we’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest developments throughout the summer.

Where do you think Van Persie will be playing next season? Get involved in the comments section.