Arsenal Transfers: Charting the Robin van Persie Saga and Predicting Its End

The transfer saga that has dominated the headlines and overshadowed Arsenal's preseason this summer began on July 4.

On the 236th anniversary of America's independence from Great Britain, Robin van Persie essentially stated that he wished to be disassociated from Arsenal, due, ostensibly, to disagreements with management over how the club should be run.

Obviously, no player can ever expect to have any meaningful role in the ways in which a club spends its money and carries out its business, yet the Dutchman cited this as his main reason for wanting to ditch his club of eight years.

Far more likely, van Persie figured that he could use the fans' old gripes about Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis to win sympathy after a tremendous 30-goal season, and his supporters would be able to forgive him for an eventual big-money transfer that would double his wages.

None of this has worked.

In fact, RvP picked the single worst summer to make this sly little move since he arrived at the club in 2004.

Before he even released his statement, Arsenal had already signed Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud from their respective clubs, and these quality, experienced internationals had generated a positive buzz in North London that had not been felt for some time.

And if van Persie's words felt hollow over a month ago, they are even more obviously nonsensical now that the Gunners have brought in perhaps their best signing of all, Santi Cazorla, to add the spice and creativity to the midfield that it has been missing since the departure of Cesc Fabregas.

There was already a good deal of hype surrounding the team, and a dominant performance against Cologne from start to finish has fans thinking that Arsenal could potentially surprise pundits this year and make a push for multiple trophies.

Van Persie, however, has already played his cards. He is effectively out the door, despite his appearance in the friendly last weekend, and it remains overwhelmingly likely that he will be gone by September 1.

Since he dropped his bombshell, the Dutchman has been linked with almost every big club in Europe. Among those who have had to deny interest in him are Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter. Not a bad list of clubs to be associated with.

Eventually, the credible has been separated from the farcical, and three main suitors have emerged: Juventus, Manchester City and Manchester United.

For the fans who have long since lost respect for van Persie, Juventus would have been the striker's ideal destination, but concerns over the Old Lady's ability to match his wage demands and, more recently, manager Antonio Conte's 10-month ban have all but ruled out a deal.

We were left, then, with a choice of two poisons in the two Manchester clubs; competitors that Arsenal will play a total of four times this season and which have a spotty history with their red and white rivals to the south.

At this point, it appears as if debates over which would be better are pointless. While City have hesitated due to their tremendous depth at striker, United have declared publicly that they have approached Arsenal and are interested in making the blockbuster signing.

This puts Arsenal in a difficult position. The club probably wants something in the region of £20 to 25 million for their best player, but United won't cough it up, to Sir Alex Ferguson's frustration.

Both parties are hurt when negotiations are at a stalemate.

Arsenal want the drama to be over and to turn the page on this unfortunate little chapter of their history, but to sell the Player of the Year for a bargain is criminal. And Manchester United obviously want to get their man and have him acclimate to his new surroundings in time for the start of the season.

In the end, the onus will be more on the seller than the buyer in this deal. Because there is little competition for van Persie at the moment (something he probably miscalculated when requesting a move), there can be no lucrative bidding war.

Yet, with replacements that are more than capable of filling the Dutchman's shoes, Arsenal can negotiate this deal like any other transfer, without the need to scramble right away for new players once the transfer fee is paid.

What Arsenal will have to balance are the financial and footballing benefits of any potential offer that comes their way.

Letting your best player go to a direct rival is terrible for Arsene Wenger and fans of the team, but not recouping any of the £35 million spent on new players this summer is equally petrifying to the front office.

Thus, this saga will probably go on for a bit longer than many of us want it to, as the two sides try to reach a compromise and swallow the least bitter pill as possible.

In short, expect Robin van Persie to be a Red Devil closer to Deadline Day than Opening Day, and Arsenal to hold firm until that magical £20 million is put on the table.

Both sides will get something close to what they wanted, but it's van Persie and the team that signs the injury-prone 29-year-old that has the most to lose in any deal.

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