Friday, March 29, 2024

Should we allow Judas to re-join the disciples?

It has been almost two weeks since the January transfer window closed, so, naturally, talk of the summer transfer window has begun.

We need a striker, a top striker. We need a striker similar to that of Robin Van Persie who, in the summer of 2012, jumped from the Arsenal ship and swam north to climb aboard HMS Ferguson.

He did well in his first season in Manchester, firing United to their 20th league title. But, then, Sir Alex Ferguson retired and David Moyes took charge. This season Man United are struggling in 7th place and Robin Van Persie is reportedly unhappy.

Apparently, he is unhappy about promises that were made to him when he joined the club, which have since been broken. Namely, he was expecting to work with Alex Ferguson for years to come, and now he is working under a manager who doesn’t come close to the stature of Arsène Wenger. (That is not to say that Moyes is a bad manager, but he is no Professeur.)

It is now believed that the ‘little boy’ inside Van Persie would like to return to North London. A convenient, but not coincidental time, seeing that we are having our best season in years and are 14 points ahead of United in the league.

Of course, it is not known whether there is any truth in these rumours, but let us assume for a minute that there is, would you take him back?

Arsène Wenger would, and with good reason. Van Persie is one of the best strikers in the world and Arsène’s job is to assemble a team capable of winning trophies.

On top of that, the players would as well. Though, Jack Wilshere may be a little reluctant to accept him back; we all remember his little gibe at Van Persie when he was handed the number 10 shirt.

The real question, though, is would the fans take him back? I personally believe that he doesn’t deserve to pull the red and white shirt over his head again. And, if you believe the same, I’m sure you’ve had it explained to you by those you’ve told that, “Van Persie is a brilliant player, you would take him back in an instant,” etc.

We are all well aware of how good he is and we are well aware that, if he was to re-join Arsenal, we would stand a much better chance of winning the league again, particularly with our midfield feeding him game after game.

The thing is, Arsenal mean a little more to me than letting a player use our club in such a way. Flitting backwards and forwards as and when we look like we might be heading towards success.

Judas betrayed Jesus for silverware, and, had he not hung himself afterwards, it seems awfully unlikely that the remaining disciples would have welcomed him back with open arms.

Photo via Ronnie Macdonald- https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronmacphotos/
Photo via Ronnie Macdonald- https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronmacphotos/

He hurt us when he left. A player we had seen sidelined with injuries season after season finally reached his full potential and he left. The fans, the players, and most importantly, Arsène Wenger, pledged full faith in his ability to be one of the best in the world, and when he showed it, he stabbed us all in the back. Unforgiveable.

Maybe I’m just bitter, but I would much prefer to bring in some new talent in the summer. Should we offer enough money, there is plenty of it around.

Van Persie may well be on the look out for greener pastures again, but for me, the gates to our garden remain firmly locked, and Robin certainly doesn’t have the key.

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Header photo via Ronnie Macdonald- https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronmacphotos/

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