:)


Arsenal just confirmed the transfer. No swipe yet.


RVP, Rooney, Welbeck, Chicharito and Angelo Henriquez's deal is almost done, too.

Poor Berba. Poor Arsenal. No word on if there are some players a part of the deal. Huge. Fuck the transfer thread.

a happy eating of dicks.

Fuck that disloyal cunt.

************************

What a cute concept.

need more in the midfield..

I can see them playing Rooney as a false 9 with the striker core of RvP/Danny/Chicha in front, just to get them all somehow on the field together. None of them do well when forced to play outside.


And nothing done about the massive hole where Evra used to be able to play.

Arsene Wenger has reluctantly agreed to sell Robin van Persie to Manchester United for £23m. Arsenal confirmed on Wednesday that a deal had been agreed between the clubs and said that the striker will travel to Manchester on Thursday for a medical and to agree personal terms.

The clubs reopened negotiations over the striker on Tuesday night, after which it was merely a question of when Van Persie became a United player. Sir Alex Ferguson feels that the 29-year-old could be the signing to help United wrest the Premier League title back from Manchester City.

Wenger had done his best to persuade Van Persie to stay and he was loth to sanction his release to United, who have been a rival to him during his time in England. But he has admitted defeat as Van Persie has been adamant that he wants to leave.

Van Persie made his intentions plain with his statement on 4 July, when he said that he wanted to win trophies and he and the club "in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward". He has forced the club's hand by refusing to extend his contract which has less than 12 months to run. Arsenal have not been able to consider losing him as a Bosman free agent.

The full statement from Arsenal said: "Arsenal Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for the transfer of Robin van Persie to Manchester United.

"Van Persie will travel to Manchester on Thursday in order to agree personal terms and complete a medical ahead of the proposed move."

Arsenal have dug in to get their minimum £20m asking price. Before they departed for their pre-season tour of Asia on 21 July, to which Van Persie did not travel, the club had received bids from United, City and Juventus, none of which was for more than £15m.

Ferguson complained last Wednesday that United were getting nowhere with Arsenal in their negotiations, although he added that they would "persevere and hope things come our way". United returned to indicate that they would pay rather more than their initial £15m bid.

On Wednesday United posted a statement on the website, saying: Manchester United is pleased to announce it has reached agreement with Arsenal Football Club for the transfer of Robin Van Persie. The deal is subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms. A further announcement will be made in due course."

It has helped United that Van Persie has been eager to join them. He is excited at the prospect of playing with Wayne Rooney, who himself spoke last week of his admiration for Van Persie. "He's a fantastic player," Rooney said. "He's been amazing for Arsenal over many years. If he does come here, he would be a great addition to the squad."

Van Persie, moreover, buys heavily into United's tradition and playing style whereas he is less keen on how City have spent lavishly to accumulate under the Abu Dhabi United Group. He was receptive to the idea of going to Juventus, although he had reservations about Serie A.

Arsenal may find it slightly easier to have sold their star player this summer as they have already signed reinforcements. The strikers Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud have arrived for a combined £24m while the attacking midfielder Santi Cazorla has followed for £12m.

Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal chief executive, described the capture of Podolski as "critical" while Cazorla's signing has created a buzz in the dressing room. Last summer, the club did not plan adequately for the departures of Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri and when they happened in August, they were forced into a late sweep of the market.

Van Persie has trained with Arsenal this summer and he played as a substitute in Sunday's 4-0 friendly win away to FC Koln, even taking the captain's armband when he came on. His involvement polarised debate among the travelling fans.

He was in Brussels on Wednesday night for Holland's friendly against Belgium.

https://twitter.com/piersmorgan

Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

Careful, Shrek @WayneRooney - you've got a treacherous new Donkey arriving.
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20m Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

What a sickening betrayal of Wenger too - the man who stood so loyally behind @Persie_Official through years of injury. #VanPursestrings
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24m Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

Well done, Ivan Gazidis, a great bit of 'business' - selling #Arsenal 's top player to our bitter rivals. Shame on you & the whole board.
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27m Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

Funny, I really thought @Persie_Official was different. But he turned out to be just another mercenary, heartless, selfish little s**t.
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33m Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

BREAKING: @Persie_Official just signed for United.
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3h Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

No, if @Persie_Official went abroad, I'd reluctantly understand, and accept. But to our No1 rivals? Unforgivable.
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4h Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

As for you @Persie_Official - think hard about what you're doing. Going to United would be the single biggest betrayal in #Arsenal history.
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4h Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

I'd rather let @Persie_Official rot in the reserves for a year than sell him to United. What the HELL are we thinking? #Arsenal
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4h Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

If Gazidis sanctions selling @Persie_Official to United, he should resign. Total, and utter, abrogation of his duties as an #Arsenal CEO.
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4h Piers Morgan Piers Morgan ‏@piersmorgan

Good to see @Persie_Official already getting into 'United' mode: http://bit.ly/R2dNCf

I didnt know he had it in him.

>Funny, I really thought @Persie_Official was different. But he
>turned out to be just another mercenary, heartless, selfish
>little s**t.

Who keeps fucking hiring him?

see the difference between Feyenoord <--> Arsenal at that point in his career and Arsenal <--> ManUtd at this point... I don't co-sign Piers or anything, but those two moves are apples to oranges.

And he presumably had much more to be "loyal" to Feyenoord for (being as it was his hometown club, got him in the international spotlight, and had trained him up from a small fry).

hahaha

Berbatov 2.0.....MU paid big money for him, and they haven't really used him.

This is going to create problems, unless they go with some kind of 4-4-2
and put rooney as the AM.....

Wilbeck, Chicharito, Rooney, RVP, Berbatov.....

CF is overly coagulated for them, and as good as SAF is, he is not going to be able to make it work.....

I do like the Shinji pickup, and I think he is going to blaze the league, but the front is going to be their doom....

Arsenal is dumb as hell for transferring him to a high profile rival. If Wenger does not produce this year, straight King Kenny for him

fuck'em both....up the blue

I don't see it as a Fail.

RVP didn't want to be at Arsenal anymore - after his statement earlier this summer he was never staying and wouldn't be accepted by the fans.

He had one year left on his contract, therefore £24 million is a very good transfer fee to command for him. He is 29 years old and will have little to zero resale value at the end of his contract.

Wenger knows when to sell his own players just look at the history, Wenger must be sick of never being wrong on these sales.

they asked him about the transfer, he didn't sound mad or bitter about it at all

Win for Arsenal (bag of money for an ageing star that didn't want to be there any more)
Win for RvP (bag of money, chance to make a last run at trophies)
Win for United (somewhat cheap, by their standards, for a proven goal machine and, best of all...)
LOSS for Citeh, who can't bring in another striker because of their poor stock pile of shit nobody wants to take from them for 1/10th their value.

he was dead to most Gooners, and I suspect to Arsene, too. The denial and anger stages have passed. We've accepted it. Move on.

fantastic

Can't say it doesn't sting a little bit considering where he is being transferred to but he obviously had already moved on mentally.

The doctors say he need a backiotomy after carrying Arsenal last year!!















okay I stole that and flipped it.

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people tend to forget how tender this dude's hamstrings and groin are...the quintessential Dutch fragility. We'll see how many games he plays this year

...be quite a squad. Still wouldn't win the league, but damn.

No need to buy an out an out striker with Giroud and Podolski. They are good on the wings with Cazorla, Alex-Ox, Wilcott, and Gervinho. Make Dempsey an offer and everyone will be happy.

Problem is he is 29 years old. Wenger tends to buy younger players. It might happen as Dempsey is in his last year of his Fulham contract and has told them he wants to play in the champions league so if they want to cash in on him they need to do it now.

Liverpool also like Dempsey.

This is likely going to be the player Arsenal sell next summer to ensure they make a profit which Arsenal currently do through selling players.

Myles Palmer wrote today that Song has already said his goodbyes to his Arsenal teammates.

One summer early but considering Arsenal would have lost him for the African cup of nations for a month and then sold him next summer i'm not that bothered if he is sold as long as they get £15 million for him and a defensive midfielder is bought as a replacement.

Talk about being able to polish a player who showed a bit of potential - Wenger has done a marvellous job with Song.

Song needed to curb his attacking instincts and the player declined to do so. Wenger knows he is doing the right thing.

In 2014 Arsenal's kit and shirt sponsorship deals are up for renewal. This will be Arsenal's chance to massively increase revenue - currently compared to other teams in the EPL Arsenal are leaving around £20 million on the table per season due to the commercial deals they struck at the beginning of the last decade with Emirates - this did allow for the construction of the new stadium though.

With the new deals in place in 2014 it should mean Arsenal won't need to sell their best players and will have more money available for transfers.

http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/visuals/post/_/id/7230/first-look-robin-van-persie-for-manchester-united

http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1262965.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Piers+morgan+tweets

RVP gets £225k per week on a four-year deal. Total package will cost Man Utd £71m.

Fuck me thats a lot of money and twice what Arsenal could ever pay him even as the best paid player in the club.

This time last year I was Mad/sad/butt-hurt/frustrated/insert a bunch of other shot o_E would say for the occasion

Now... ehh. It was a GREAT season, but just 1 season among many disappointments. I was also a RVP hater honestly, frustrated the shit out of me. Now I had to repent this year, but I've never really fully trusted him.

Will he flop @ ManU? Probably not, I actually see a great season for him this year, then a fall off the cliff next. But I'm good with that too.


Alex Song leaving actually pisses me off more - don't ask me to rationalize.

Also, still feel pretty confident about season, and top 4 finish.

http://i50.tinypic.com/345hnis.png

james about to get a knock on the door from scotland yard

i cannot describe how great of a signing this is. i dont get how a united fan could look at this and not be giddy as fuck.
And first of all to compare this to the berbatov signing is just so stupid its laughable
Berbatov: lazy, moody, unreliable & unclinical.
Rvp: lively, fiery, a leader and a sniper
The only worry is injury history but thats a risk i can live with.

The wages dont worry me either. Hes not on 225 a week. Use your heads people.
Hes on whatever Rooney is on and not even Rooney is on 225. Something like 180.
It isnt about the money. Its about putting yourself in the position to compete for titles.
And if those come than it will be more than worth the money we are spending on him.

Is it a necessary signing? No not really.
But is modric to madrid necessary? Fuck no.
Does city really need another striker? Fuck no.
But the modern game is all about the accumulation of weapons.
Its why we signed Young even though we already had the 2 best wingers in the league.

Could we use another cm? Probably. But if the attack is constructed how i think it will be, i think our options are fine. Clearly we are moving toward a new system so it will be interesting to see.
I dont even think we need another LB. Maybe as a backup but im fine with evra for another season. It can be revisited next summer.

Ultimately though, this is a statement of attacking intent.
For whatever reason ever since we signed berbatov we have become boring and slower and more boring and even slower by the year. Much like him.
Now we have a gang of energetic, clever, versatile and INTELLIGENT (in football at least) parts who can play anywhere across a front 4 and threaten the goal from anywhere in the attacking half.
Rooney now has a proper running mate up front for the first time since ronaldo left.
I bet hes happier than a pig in shit.
If it syncs...beware.
We are on the loose.

I love it. Building for the present and the future at the same damn time.
Bring on the season.

He's gonna deliver us the title.

Podolski is a coup and with Giroud coming in hopefully we get to see less of Gervinho starting.

Song will be a loss but I have faith in Arteta, Wilshere and Ramsey. And if Diaby finally starts playing to his potential, we're going to be a serious problem.

Our back four is solid, we got the young Ox ready to terrorize dudes. Man, fucka Van Persie.

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Arsenal was a one-man show last year.

that's the one thing I care about in the EPL this year, but I'm not going to get my hopes up

He's silky smooth and has incredible ball control and vision, but he loses the ball way too much by being too cute with it or holding on to it for a second too long. He's just not decisive enough for me.

But there are glimpses of genius in that kid. I still have faith that he'll become an improved Makalele some day.

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He's just not
>decisive enough for me.
>
>But there are glimpses of genius in that kid. I still have
>faith that he'll become an improved Makalele some day.
>
>************************

Diaby has the playmaking ability, I'd like to see more of the "rock" side. If he ever lives up to that Vieira stuff...

methinks he'll be getting off the pot because his understanding of the game just isnt there.

Arsenal bought Anelka, Overmars, Petit, Henry, Vieira, Fàbregas, RVP, Toure, Adebayor and Nasri for £42m. Then sold them for £206m = Wenger knows.

all that sauce, but no pasta.

>all that sauce, but no pasta.
>
>
>

if youre focused on being profitable instead of successful in soccer then you got it screwed up.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-to-give-number-10-shirt-1265136

i had hoped messi would stick with it.
it still looks weird to see him w/ 10. at least w/ barca, looks fine w/ the argies. 19 just looked right for him.
maybe welbeck swag it out.