Van Persie set to leave as Fergie makes the first move

The biggest transfer saga of the summer is now in full swing as Sir Alex Ferguson has now confirmed that he has made a bid for Arsenal’s want away captain Robin Van Persie.

Van Persie is now set to stay at home whilst his current teammates travel to the Far East on their pre-season tour, and this is no doubt the right thing for both parties because any more disruption for Wenger in this pre-season could tip the Frenchman over the edge.

Manchester United have tabled a bid for the Dutch goal-machine rumoured to be in the region of £12.5million but Wenger wants at least £25million for the man who single-handedly carried Arsenal through last season.  United are not the only club interested as Manchester City and Juventus are also believed to have expressed a desire in bringing the player to their respective clubs.

Both Robin Van Persie and Arsenal now have huge decisions to make in the next couple of weeks.  Van Persie needs to think about where he wants to be playing his football next season, and previously it looked as though he favoured a move abroad, but since his ill-advised statement on his own website, it seems that money is playing a huge factor in where he wants to go.

From a footballing point of view there is very little doubt that Van Persie should stay at Arsenal.  He is worshiped by the fans and with the new additions to the squad; they look just as strong as Manchester United going into the new campaign. 

City, however, have an even stronger squad but he wouldn’t get as much playing time due to their abyss of striking talent.  Juventus have a strong outfit but going to play in Serie A would be a backward step for a player who is at the peak of his powers.

Wenger is looking to hold firm and make Van Persie see out the remaining year of his contract, but that could end up doing more harm than good.  If he were to stay at Arsenal next season then the other players at the club would know that their own captain would be leading them out without any motivation to play for the club.  This could cause a lot of dressing-room disruption for a side that suffered in the same situation last year and ended up enduring a shocking start to the previous campaign.

All three clubs who have confirmed interest for Van Persie will without doubt table some more bids to try and test Arsenal’s resolve in the next few weeks.  Wenger is being his stubborn self and will hold out for £25million at the very least which realistically leaves Van Persie with two destinations next season, Manchester City and Arsenal.  With his bridges burnt at Arsenal, they should accept the highest bid and get rid of the bad egg in the dressing room because one more bad start like last season and Wenger could be the next departure.

Alex Smith, football correspondent