It’s been relatively quiet on the Van Persie front in recent days. He never announced anything, but the Dutch striker seems to be happy with the way things are going in Arsenal and their signings (and future ones) this summer, which hasn’t stopped Manchester United from trying to sign the Premier League’s top scorer last season.

The weapon of choice? Wayne Rooney, as convincing or unconvincing as he may be. The English forward, who finished behind Van Persie last season on the scoring charts with 27 goals, is trying to do what Alex Ferguson and the United board so far hasn’t been able to – Convince Van Persie and Arsenal what the right choice is – moving to Old Trafford.

Of course he’s a player that I admire. He’s a fantastic player, he’s been amazing for Arsenal over many years. Last season was probably his best season of all – he scored a lot of goals. If he does come here, he would be a great addition to the squad. 

Not the most articulate of comments, but it gets the message through. United seem to be the only team left in the race – Juventus have reportedly turned their attention to other strikers around Europe while Roberto Mancini has conceded that his team is out of the running for Van Persie.

All that’s left are United, although Alex Ferguson feels that Arsene Wenger is reluctant to make a deal with a big rival such as United. News popping up of Van Persie’s agent looking to make around £4 million from a future deal, if an offer for the player ever gets worked out, might be another hurdle that’ll be hard to overcome.

While United are still looking for that extra player after adding Shinji Kagawa this summer, Alex Ferguson is mostly feeling frustration. What now? Well, it began very early on when Chelsea were the one’s to sign Eden Hazard, which for a while looked like he’s going to United. Now comes the Lucas Moura deal. Lucas was on the verge of signing for United, but PSG came in with a €45 million offer and signed the 19 year old Brazilian. Suddenly, Alex Ferguson forgot about all his big transfers over the years and criticized PSG.

When somebody’s paying €45 million for a 19-year-old boy you have to say the game’s gone mad. When Alex Ferguson doesn’t get his way, the world is wrong, not him. Manchester United just aren’t the first choice for some players these days, because of financial reasons, but not exclusively. The future sometimes looks a bit brighter with other clubs.