Sportsbook Guardian

The Summer transfer window is always a revolving door of players and managers. With Euro 2012 finished and Europe’s finest talents paraded in front of the prying eyes of the top clubs, dealings are never far away.

Perhaps the biggest mystery of the summer is where Arsenal’s Dutch hitman Robin Van Persie will be come the close of the transfer window. Van Persie was England’s top goalscorer last season, scoring an incredible 30 goals in 37 appearances for Arsenal. In all competitions Van Persie made 48 appearances, scored 37 goals and made 13 assists.

Last week however, Van Persie dropped a bombshell on Arsenal. With his contract expiring at the end of next season, the Arsenal heirarchy failed to convince Van Persie that the Emirates is the place for him. Van Persie declared he would not be signing a contract extension, citing a lack of ambition from the club for his decision to leave. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger now faces a tough decision – cash in on Van Persie now, or let him leave for free next summer.

A host of top European clubs are said to be keen on Van Persie. English Champions Manchester City have already declared their interest, and this would be a further kick in the teeth to Wenger having already lost Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor to Man City over the past 4 years. City are a best priced Evens favourites with Betfred to sign Van Persie this summer.

Italian Serie A Champions Juventus are also said to be keen on the striker. Antonio Conte’s team are already believed to have placed a bid around £8million for Van Persie, but this was rejected by Arsenal. Van Persie told Italian website Tuttosport: “Juve? They are a great team…I can only say that my intention is to play in the Euro’s and then go on to win the Champions League.” Juventus are best priced 5/2 at Stan James to sign Van Persie.

If Van Persie does leave this summer, the Arsenal faithful are sure to bemoan their manager and board about not doing everything in their power to keep England’s top marksman. Arsenal’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has bore much criticism over not pleasing Van Persie, and a civil war is ongoing in the Arsenal boardroom.

Alisher Usmanov currently holds 29% of Arsenal shares, as opposed to Stan Kroenke’s 63% and has objected to the way Arsenal is being run. In an open letter, Usmanov wrote: “Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player because we cannot give confidence we can win trophies. In our view it is clear you are trying to distract attention from the more fundamental issues facing the club. These are the financial model, the lack of investment and club’s future strategic direction.”

Related Pages:

• Champions League betting preview
• Arsenal’s rising from the ashes
• Premier League opening weekend review
• Robin van Persie, he leaves when he wants
• Who Will Survive Super Sunday?