Arsene Wenger on a Mission: Told Robin van Persie he was no longer a part of Arsenal’s plans

Arsene Wenger has come into the Summer 2012 Transfer Window with an obvious fire in his belly. He does not want to be doubted for dubious decisions again by Arsenal supporters and has proven to counteract the slow start that last season provided by not vacillating on anything.

The first big hint at this was the revolutionary statement he had at the beginning of the window, where he was looking to sell off players that have been sub-par in their stay at North London. His statement included seeing players like: Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh, Manuel Almunia and Sebastian Squillaci leave the club.

A report from BBC Sports states that:

Van Persie was encouraged by the arrivals of Germany forward Lukas Podolski, France striker Olivier Giroud and Spain midfielder Cazorla - to the point where he was open to the idea of staying with or without a new contract.

Robin van Persie was ready to stay at Arsenal with this sudden burst of ambition from Wenger, coming as a potential counter-point to van Persie’s widely publicized letter, which stated that the club lacked the ambition he was looking for.

However, Wenger was not one to give into the childish games that the Dutch international was playing. He left the forward at home as the team went off on their pre-season tour of Asia; a foreboding sign.

The final nail in the transfer coffin finally came for the Dutch maestro before the game against Cologne this past Sunday. BBC Sport reports that, shortly before Arsenal’s match against the German side, “Wenger pulled him aside… [and] told him he would be sold if a deal could be reached and informed the Dutchman he was no longer part of his plans.”

Shortly thereafter, formal negotiations began with Manchester United, which has brings us up to the present.

Arsenal will soon be £22.5 million richer, potentially adding another £1.5 million to their balance books if United win the league title within the next four years.

One has to say “Good Riddance!” though, after all this saga has put Arsenal fans through.

Arsenal is getting rid of a player who they picked up as a 21-year-old that couldn’t stay out of trouble. Who also put them through needless amounts of squad selection stress, as his body was riddled by injury after injury.

After one fantastic season, where said player was named Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Writers’ player of the year, the Gunners have cashed in. Now, let’s count how many minutes he’ll last in Manchester before he is out with an injury. One can almost bet that it won’t be too long.