£8m for RVP just ridiculous

The derisory £8m bid made by Juventus for Arsenal star Robin van Persie this week has left many people wondering just how good the Dutch striker is.

Arsenal swiftly rejected the offer for their top scorer, as they are reportedly looking to sell van Persie for at least £20m. The 28-year-old scored 27 goals for the Gunners this season, and without him Arsené Wenger’s side would not have finished in the top six of the Premier League.

Having revealed he won’t sign a new contract, Manchester City are the favourites to sign him this summer according to Betfair Premier league markets.

Juventus’ miniscule offer will come as a shock to Arsenal fans who value their star striker much higher. His goals have earned Wenger a 14th consecutive run in the UEFA Champions League, worth prize money far greater than RVP’s transfer value. Chelsea reportedly earned £47m in winning the trophy last season.

So what is van Persie’s real market value? At 28-years-old, the Dutch striker has surely peaked and should maintain his current form for a season or two, but no longer.

As pundit Lee Dixon has recently highlighted in his column, his poor performances at Euro 2012 will have reduced his value and the evident poor attitude of the entire Dutch team won’t have shown him in good a light either.

Van Persie’s injury record is also of concern. It has only been these past 18 months that he has finally recovered from a long spell of niggling problems. Should he break down – like we know he can – in Juventus stripes after the Italian giants have forked out £30m for the striker, it would be seen as money very badly spent.

The £8m figure was never really going to tempt Wenger into selling his main asset, but it does show just how realistic Juve are about van Persie’s capabilities.