Former Players Views

[Cripps_orig]

Arsenal should sell Robin van Persie and splash out on a marquee signing such as Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse, according to former Gunner Ray Parlour.

Van Persie announced that he would not be renewing his contract at the Emirates Stadium, which expires next summer, on Wednesday, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain understood to be admirers of the prolific Dutchman.

And Parlour, who enjoyed a distinguished 12-year spell with the north London club, believes Arsenal should cash in on their star man then set their sights on acquiring a replacement.

"What Arsenal have got to do now is try and get the best bidder," Parlour told talkSPORT.

"£25 million or £30m, get as much money as you can and then reinvest the money in the squad.

"The most important thing for Arsenal fans is to reinvest that money in the club. Not just put it in the bank like they did with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

"Let's go out and make a key signing like Papiss Cisse from Newcastle and suddenly people will forget about Robin van Persie."

The Gunners have already brought in forwards Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud this summer, and reports have strongly linked them with a move for Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...iss-cisse-says

Ba is available as well for £7m

Must Gets

[Cripps_orig]

EX-ARSENAL hero Paul Merson has warned Robin van Persie he will regret his decision to quit the Gunners.

Merson said: “Not many players leave Arsenal and don’t regret it. If they don’t sell him, the fans are going to slaughter him.”

Former Gunners striker ALAN SMITH said: “Van Persie is 28 and, at that age, it’s all about winning medals.

“He thinks Arsenal can’t win trophies and you probably have to agree with him.”

And ex-midfielder RAY PARLOUR added: “Players move on quickly now. Arsenal have to get over it.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...g-Arsenal.html

Merson

That is BS

[Cripps_orig]

I WAS astonished when I was told Robin van Persie wants to leave Arsenal.

I was convinced the team captain was happy and settled at the Emirates and would sign a new contract after the best season of his career.

So to hear RVP is NOT happy with the way the club is going comes as a massive blow to me and every other Arsenal fan.

Yet I don’t blame him for his decision. In fact, I don’t think he even has a choice any more because he’s an ambitious, world-class player who can’t achieve his targets with the club.

So now it’s time for Arsene Wenger and the directors to come clean because the supporters — who have stuck by their team for seven long years without a trophy — deserve to know just what is going on.

How the hell did a club of Arsenal’s standing and resources get to the point where they are forced to wave goodbye to at least one top star every year?

Since Thierry Henry decided in 2007 he had to leave in order to win the Champions League there has been a steady stream of players through the exit door at The Emirates.

Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor have all gone on to bigger and better things since leaving.

And it’s nothing to do with money. It’s about joining a club with the ambition to win major titles rather than one happy just to drift along in the top four.

Yes, I know Arsenal stuck by him when he was struggling with injuries and now it looks like they want him to stay and see out his contract.

But I have never believed in forcing an unhappy player to stay because it just doesn’t work.

So Arsene should swallow his pride and negotiate the best possible price for Robin so he can move on.

And if that means RVP joining Manchester City, United or Chelsea, then so be it.

The boss said last season there was no way he would allow his star striker to move to City after losing Nasri, Clichy, Toure and Adebayor to them in the last three years.

But that would be a pointless gesture. Instead of worrying about where his players GO, Arsene should be trying to assemble a squad that makes them want to STAY.

The problem with Arsenal is they will pay big wages but won’t pay a big transfer fee.

That’s why they weren’t even in the chase when Eden Hazard moved from Lille to Chelsea the other week.

The same thing happened last year when they gave up on Juan Mata without even putting up a fight.

And the year before it was the same with David Silva.

These guys are up for grabs. But Arsenal never grab them.

This is why the club needs to tell the fans the truth about the financial situation.

Do they have money to spend — or not?

Is it because they are terrified of the arrival of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play they won’t spend big?

If that’s the case, why are they the only top club who seem to be worried?

The sad truth is Arsenal no longer attract the best players because they can’t offer what the likes of City, United and Chelsea can.

Chelsea have won eight trophies in eight years.

City have won the FA Cup and their first Premier League title — and there’s a fair chance they’ll win the league again next time.

And United will always be challenging for honours. Of course, players want good wages but they also want to be part of a club that can win trophies and doesn’t let its top stars run down their contracts.

I know I’ll get stick from some Arsenal fans over this because their view is Arsene is always right and no one should question his decisions.

But when Thierry left five years ago, I wrote in SunSport that it was the start of a dangerous precedent.

And here we are with yet another captain looking to leave.

The danger is others in the dressing room will start to wonder what the future holds.

What must Jack Wilshere be thinking now? How will Alex Song and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain be feeling about the loss of the fella who finished off all their good work last season?

Players, like the supporters, want to see signs the club is thinking big.

Every year Arsene tells us his top stars will not be leaving — and every year the fans are left disappointed.

The team will continue to play great football and I really hope Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud hit the ground running — because they will have to.

But the guys who are coming in are never quite as good as those who are leaving.

So every year Arsenal fall away because they don’t have the quality or the winning mentality to see it out.

Arsene is still looking to sign players he can develop, rather than buying ready-made stars.

The sad reality is you have to spend money to compete these days.

And Arsenal’s policy isn’t working any more.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...an-Wright.html

Wrighty

Absolutely spot on once again

[Cripps_orig]

NIGEL WINTERBURN reckons an Arsenal spending-spree can convince Robin van Persie to change his mind.

Van Persie is determined to leave the Gunners with Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus all interested.

The recent signings of Germany striker Lukas Podolski and France forward Olivier Giroud have failed to persuade Van Persie that his ambitions can be realised in north London.

But Winterburn, who made 440 appearances during 13 years at Arsenal, believes a more sustained recruitment drive will tempt the 28-year-old Dutch marksman to stay.

He said: "Arsenal have bought a couple of players and you can only hope they continue to strengthen throughout the summer.

“Somehow that might persuade Van Persie this is the right club and that they’ve started to move in a different direction from the past five or six years.”

Arsenal face another summer of discontent as they battle to keep hold of their prized asset.

Last year Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri secured transfers out of Arsenal while Van Persie and winger Theo Walcott, whose contract also expires in 12 months, could follow suit.

Winterburn fears the Gunners’ descent into a “selling club” has rendered them incapable of challenging for the title.

He added: “Arsenal should not be a selling club. Forget about the board.

“The most important thing is the manager and players and that the players go into each season believing they’ve got a chance of winning something.

“The precedent was set last year losing Fabregas and Nasri and now it looks like Van Persie may go, and that starts to put doubt into players’ minds.

“It’s very difficult for Arsenal to compete with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

“As a player you need to believe you can challenge for the title and last year Arsenal were miles away.

“Getting into the Champions League is great, but as a player that’s not enough. That’s the minimum requirement.

“As a player you want to be in the mix — for the title — in March and April when the excitement really starts.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...interburn.html

[fakeyank]

RVP has burnt his bridges. He can fuck off. I'd rather we brought back Adebayor over this ungrateful c*nt

[Cripps_orig]

Former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell believes the club must embark on a £100 million shopping spree to convince Robin van Persie to stay at the Emirates, and insists he can understand why the Dutchman wants to leave the trophyless Gunners.

Campbell, who formed part of the back-line during the club's Invincibles era, when they became the first team in Premier League history to go an entire season unbeaten, believes the 28-year-old is fed up with each season delivering nothing.

Van Persie this week questioned the club's transfer policy and ambition in a message to fans on his personal website in which he confirmed that he would not be extending his contract at the Emirates.

His announcement prompted Alisher Usmanov, who with his business partner Farhad Moshiri is Arsenal's second largest shareholder with a 29 per cent stake, to issue an open letter to the board criticising the direction in which they are taking the club.

Campbell does not blame Van Persie for his stance and supports the notion that a player of his age and quality should want to win trophies and not stay with a club which has gone seven years without tasting success.

The 37-year-old told the Daily Mirror: “I can understand why Van Persie has decided not to sign a new contract.

“When you go back to your club for pre-season, and you look around the changing room, you want to see top players around you and think, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do something this season. This is where it’s happening.’

“That’s what Van Persie is looking for. And maybe he’s had a look and thought, ‘Is this it?’

"Maybe it will be different in a couple of weeks, maybe there will be a cast of new faces to make him feel different.

“Players come and go. It’s a fact of life in football."

Van Persie joined Arsenal in 2004, just weeks after they celebrated winning the title in an unbeaten season, and Campbell believes that while the trophies may have enticed him to the club, the fact that they have dried up has now convinced the Dutchman his future lies elsewhere.

He added: “When he signed for Arsenal, he was surrounded by top-quality players, big characters, and it was fantastic. Inside his head, he knew it was the place to be - alongside Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, myself, Tony Adams, Jens Lehmann, Ashley Cole.
Arsenal line up RVP replacements

“Van Persie came in, mixed it with a team who were used to winning things, and he got the taste for it. He joined The Invincibles and won the FA Cup in his first season, but since then... nothing.

“Robin has seen the good times, and been part of the good times, and he wants more of it.

“Basically, his statement is shorthand for saying his patience has run out, and that he can’t wait for ever if he’s going to win major trophies in his career."

Campbell warned fans, though, that a change in manager is not the way forward and feels Arsene Wenger is one of the only managers who can address this slumo the club finds itself in.

That said, Campbell acknowledges that the club must be more ruthless in its transfer policy. He believes it will only be spending on star players rather than healthy receipts that will convince Van Persie to change his mind and opt to stay at the Emirates.

“Arsenal have established this model of financial prudence, they have a fantastic new stadium, they are bringing the club’s debt down ahead of schedule and everything is tickety-boo off the pitch," said Campbell.

“They are making money, they are in good shape and everything is well-run... but they are not winning. The real sting is in the punchline.

“Changing the manager isn’t going to make any difference. If there are any Arsenal fans who are tempted to call for Arsene Wenger to step down, is a new manager going to get any more firepower in the transfer market?

“Unless someone produces £100m and Wenger brings some big signings to the club, I can’t see Van Persie changing his mind.

"It’s irreversible.”

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...ee-to-stop-van

[Syn]

It's alright Sol, you don't have to convince us anymore. It obviously wasn't the mega-contract that influenced your decision to leave Tottenham to join Arsenal.

[Cripps_orig]

Doubt it.

He wanted to win trophies and he could join a club who was doing that without moving house

[Syn]

That's true enough. The money played little or no part at all. Takes a man of great moral standing to join the direct rivals that you previously said you'd never join.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make was the only person's views I consider less important than Sol's when it comes to rationalising why players would leave clubs is Ashley Cole's.

What else is Sol going to say? He's going to be anything but neutral or rational about this given the decisions he has made. Personally, I have found a lot of ex-players' and fans' views about this Van Persie statement very childish and naive. The need to be so definite about details we really have little idea about is baffling. Money is usually a factor in decisions. Not the only factor but it is a factor. It's pointless pretending otherwise.

[Cripps_orig]

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has suggested the Gunners ask Manchester City for striker Edin Dzeko in exchange for wantaway captain Robin van Persie.

The Bosnian has failed to reproduce the form which encouraged Roberto Mancini to part with £27 million in order to bring him in from Wolfsburg, leading to speculation that he may be moved on this summer.

Meanwhile, Van Persie recently expressed his intention to reject any further contract offers, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season.

And Parlour, who made 468 appearances for the north London club during a distinguished career, believes a swap deal could be beneficial for both sides.

“I don’t know what Arsenal will look at, but if [Van Persie] does want to go to Manchester City then maybe they could look at a swap deal with someone like Dzeko and bring him in,” he told talkSPORT.

Although Parlour believes Dzeko would be a good addition, he went on to concede that the strict wage structure at the Emirates Stadium could see Arsenal miss out.

“His wages might be a problem,” he added.

“I don’t know what kind of wages Dzeko is on at Manchester City and Arsenal have always had that pay structure that they want to keep to and maybe they have to change that.

“Times are moving on and if you want the best players they go for the best money.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...swap-deal-says

Good deal

Dzeko is quality