Originally Posted by
Syn
We'll find out at some point. You can run through 100 different theories as to what things he'd value and you could spin it either way. And here's mine:
I take the view that footballers don't think like fans. They're not obsessed with trophies. They want to win and be very famous and in the top bracket of footballers. In order to do that, they can't play for Doncastwood Argyle. They need to play at the highest level and Arsenal are playing at the highest level (the European Cup). Some players (and I think Van Persie is one) like being the big fish in a reasonable-sized pond. They want a lot of money though and if Arsenal are to keep him they have to be prepared to give him a lot of money. If I was Van Persie and even if I didn't really care about Arsenal, I'd know that I could be the king at this club. I would've spent 7 years here already, if I stay for another 5, job done - legend status, hero status, worshipped by every gooner. If I leave now, I won't be a hero here or anywhere else. I wouldn't be a 'legend' of any club. I'm 29 years old and I've got about 3/4 years at the top (if that, considering my injury proneness) and even if I move to Barcelona or Real Madrid and win a couple of titles, I'm not going to be a club legend at those places either. I'll have a shiny medal to show my grandkids. If I stay at Arsenal, I might not have that shiny medal. But, when I'm retired and I'm walking near the stadium and go to a game, I'll get more people telling me how great I was that the kudos is better than the shiny medal for something Barcelona or Real Madrid or Man City probably would've done whether or not I was there. Think about how valued Bergkamp is and how valued Henry is amongst Arsenal fans. That could be me and I'd choose getting a free pint and hero status over anything else (assuming, as I said, I was playing at the highest level).
I think if Henry had to make a choice again, he wouldn't have gone to Barcelona. Hope he had a word with RVP when he was over.