Why Arsenal should sell Robin van Persie

Hi all-

A lot of blogs I've read about Arsenal and the topic of Robin van Persie have been saying that Robin van Persie is crucial to the future of Arsenal, and that the only way to persuade him to stay is to go on a £100 million summer spending spree.

Obviously he has now rejected the possibility of signing a new contract in favour of a move to Manchester City or Manchester United. For me, van Persie leaving Arsenal for about £20 million would not be a disaster. He is now 29, edging away from his best years, i think in the next few years he may begin to lose his fitness, his agility and the way he comes alive in the box, the skills he has based his career on. I think £20 million is quite a lot of money for Arsenal to get for him, when you consider that he may begin to age, he is on high wages, not to mention that he has said he wants to leave the club.

Whilst I think Man City would be being the most sensible in parting with that kind of money for him, I would lose quite a bit of respect for van Persie if he signed for them. Mainly because it would be obvious he was signing for them for the money. He couldn't be guarenteed first team football at the Citizens, with Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko and Balotelli in the squad.

However, if he signed for Manchester United, it would be clear he was signing up for a challenge, and the buzz of pressure that comes with signing for a club with that kind of tradition and a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson. Whilst the likes of Welbeck and Hernandez might get the odd starting spot ahead of him in Cup matches, he would be playing week in, week out and would potentially be the saviour of United given the challenges they face this season, or buckle under the pressure to be so.

At this point I would admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Manchester United. Aside from having a few friends who support them, I like the way they have built great sides over the course of history, not by having a mega-rich chairman who can pump billions into the club at will, but by having a fantastic youth setup and building great teams over time. I also think that the partnership of Rooney and van Persie would be interesting to see, and would give United a chance to make this title race at least a bit interesting.

Gabriel