Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called for some financial reality within football after he recently saw his star striker Robin van Persie joined Manchester United after rejecting a new deal from Arsenal. The 29-year-old Dutchman was reluctantly sold by the club for £ 24 million. Arsenal were prepared to offer Robin van Persie up to £ 150,000 per week, but this offer was not nowhere near enough the offer made by Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Robin van Persie has signed a £ 250,000 per week contract with Manchester United that makes him one of the highest paid players in the world.
Speaking after allowing the striker to leave for Old Trafford, Arsene Wenger has said that there is no reality in football. He has said that the UEFA financial fair play regulations cannot come into effect sooner. It is expected that Manchester United will be spending close to £ 60 million on Robin van Persie during the length of this four-year contract. This seems like an absurd amount of money for a 29-year-old player according to the Arsenal manager. Wenger has been prudent in the transfer window for many seasons now, but has failed to lift a major trophy during this period as well.
“It is a concern. We live in the economic reality which other clubs do not. There are some things we cannot afford to do. How much do you want to pay [a week for Van Persie to stay]? £250,000? £300,000? You say we do not live in a realistic world, and then reproach us when we say we will not pay £250,000 a week. We are here to make the players as rich as possible, but as well in respecting our balance sheet. Honestly, I think it is a short-term problem. The world cannot go on like that,” said Wenger.
