Manchester United chief executive David Gill steps in to oversee move for Arsenal captain Robin van Persie transfer.
Manchester United United have been rebuffed with bids of £10million and £15million for the Dutch striker but manager Alex Ferguson has said the club will “just have to persevere” with their attempts to sign the 29 year-old.
Van Persie has told the club that he wants to leave and would prefer to join United rather than Juventus. In his 16 years at the club, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has never sold a player to his rival Ferguson and wants Van Persie, who scored 30 Premier League goals last season, to go abroad if he is to leave rather than join an English rival.
Sir Alex Ferguson says Manchester United’s attempts to sign Robin van Persie from Arsenal have stalled.
Ferguson did however reveal on Thursday that the club has hit a brick wall in their negotiations with Arsenal.
“We have made a bid and they Arsenal have been trying to negotiate with other clubs,” said the United manager. “I don’t have a gut feeling on it at the moment, I must admit. We’re not getting any breakthrough with Arsenal. It’s difficult to say why they’re operating this way. I don’t know what their thoughts are because they’re not giving anything away.”
But if Manchester United increase their bid in excess of £20million a deal is likely to be brokered this weekend between Gill, 56, and Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis.
Both are on the English FA’s Professional Game Board and the FA Council. Gill was in London this week to help drum up additional support at an Manchester United investor roadshow hosted by lead adviser Jefferies Group Inc. United kicked off their stock market flotation yesterday before listed on the New York Stock Exchange today.
If the Manchester United transfer were to be completed though, it seems he would take up the role of goalscorer-in-chief. Issues would arise at Old Trafford with the need to smudge Kagawa, Rooney and van Persie into a team, but most likely would be one of the former pair being shifted to a wider role as and when the three of them were required to play in the same XI. Rooney has proven how adept he is at exploiting deeper positions, and is said to be relishing the prospect of playing with a master finisher like van Persie, and if he were to become Batman to the Dutchman’s Robin then that would be one hell of a strike partnership, and one that could work.
