Manchester United Fans Should Not Get Their Hopes Up over Signing RvP

That's not to say it definitely won't happen, just that perhaps fans of Manchester United should be a little bit more conservative in regards to their chances of snapping up the Dutch international.

Let's face it, in the past four or five years, United haven't exactly had the best record when it comes to bringing in would-class players in the upper most bracket of the footballing pyramid.

Sneijder and Nasri (although now perhaps less so the latter of the two) are prime examples in recent seasons of players that United have been desperate to sign, only eventually failing to do so. That isn't a criticism of anything that's happening in regards to the transfers, though.

In both of these cases, United were priced out of the deal, sticking by their policy of never spending more than they want to for a player.

Unfortunately, with the likes of Manchester City and Juventus also vying for the contract of one of the most successful strikers in the history of the Premier League, this may well be the resulting scenario once again.

Arsenal have already made it apparent that they will not be selling van Persie for less than £20m (The Telegraph), which means that without doubt, the almost unavoidable transfer war that is about to ensue for van Persie's contract could reach in excess of the £40m mark.

If there was ever a player that Sir Alex would be willing to spend that kind of money on, it probably would be RvP. After all, he is a proven talent in England.

With a less than "world-class" midfield last season, Robin still managed to net a whopping 30 goals in the league alone. But therein lies the problem.

If United are willing to pay that much for him, imagine how much Manchester City, with their seemingly unlimited budget, are willing to fork over to bring the Arsenal striker to the Etihad Stadium. 

City have made a habit of signing Arsenal players since Sheikh Mansour took over in August of 2008.

Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure, Samir Nasri and even Patrick Viera are all former Arsenal first-team players who have found themselves being signed by the current champions of England. Who's to say that a very determined Manchester City (who will more than likely be losing both Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko this summer) won't be looking to bring in another world-class player from the Gunners to fill the void that will be left in the City attack.

And this is without taking into account the possibility of Italian champions Juventus (who are currently the favourites to acquire the Dutchman's signature).

It would be a risk for Juve to spend that amount of money on bringing in a player who is completely unproven in Serie A (especially given the startling amount of talent in recent years that have failed to make the jump from the Italian League to the English and vice versa), but with a player of RvP's quality, it may be one worth taking.

The Old Lady of football managed to go the entire 2011-12 Serie A campaign undefeated, finishing ahead of old rivals AC Milan in second place. Van Persie will be extremely encouraged by this, and may also view Juventus as a possible frontrunner for the 2013 Champions League trophy. 

Manchester United are perhaps the most well-respected club in the history of world football, and they will have to rely heavily on that factor when it comes to this particular transfer.

If it comes down to money topping van Persie's factors for joining a new side, then one would have to say that nobody can compete with Manchester City in that regard. However, if he is looking for success on the pitch, then this may the season when we see Manchester United making their first big-name signing in many a year. That being said, with the likes of City and Juventus to compete with, United fans should not be too surprised or disappointed if this particular transfer target ends up elsewhere.