Arsenal and Manchester United can be considered – if history is to be reflected upon – as the most unlikely candidates to have formed a rivalry.
This is not a derby nor is it a rivalry based upon trophy cabinet comparisons; no, this is something rarely seen in the game of football – a straightforward detestation between the two heavyweight organisations.
At one stage players wouldn’t dare swap jerseys after an important game let alone even contemplate swapping jerseys for the long haul. At least this was the general consensus until about 7:30pm yesterday when it became official, via numerous sources, that a deal between the two clubs had be struck for Robin Van Persie.
Having come off the back of his most productive season, his signing will come as somewhat of a coup for the Red Devils. Conversely, for the same reason and so much more, the selling of the talismanic striker by Arsenal to Manchester United is about as retrogressive a deal as you can get in the modern game.
By all means get rid of those troublesome players who have no desire to play for their respective team anymore but, at the same time, fight tooth and nail to make sure that he is moved on to a place where the decision will not rear its ugly head again and again or eventually come back to bite you.
Arsenal fans have been exclaiming their disapproval all over the social networks; they have indicated that this is an unforgivable betrayal only one-upped by Judas but the truth is that it ultimately wasn’t his decision where he would have ended up.
Wenger did all he could to display defiance by placing an absurdly large valuation on his captain. Unfortunately, this situation was always unpredictable and there was the distinct possibility that such a tactic could backfire; now, instead of the price tag being a deterrent for every interested party, it only served to narrow down the field for the one team willing to pay the money.
With a just a year left on his contract, his age and injury record, Wenger took a calculated risk that 9 times out of 10 would have seen the player either remain at the club or shipped abroad, still, United, with the coil of a sleeping giant rudely awakened, jumped at the chance to invest in real quality.
Subsequently Arsenal have bolstered a rival team whilst weakening their squad for a consecutive year – not ideal preparation, yet again, for the upcoming season.
Arsenal didn’t necessarily have to sell Van Persie remember; they should have considered just letting him play out his final year, thus giving them significant time to possibly sway his decision with a spectacular season or find a more like-for-like replacement.
On the bright side, Arsenal were much quicker to act having anticipated Van Persie’s exit, replacing him with class at value in Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla. With an added £24 million possibly in the transfer kitty, they will be able to improve further and possibly look at this debacle as a blessing in disguise.
That being said, it’s extremely debatable whether Alex Ferguson would have made the same deal with a rival if he were in Wenger’s position.
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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