Perspective: In RVP's mind, it is the right move.

The bare facts seem to paint a terrible picture – last season’s top scorer is no longer at the club. Worse still, he has been sold to a bitter rival. Robin van Persie, who was last season’s PFA player of the year and Arsenal‘s best player has been sold and Wenger, it seems, is faced with the same situation again – one of helplessness. Fans have expressed outrage at what they deem to be treachery. van Persie is this season’s Cesc, they seem to be saying.

Let’s take it down a notch. Let’s get down to the bare basics. van Persie is 29 years old. He has one year left on his contract. He has been sold for 24 million pounds. That, is not a bad piece of business per se; it really is not. He had exactly one injury-free season in his 8 at Arsenal – his last one. In the preceding 7 seasons, he averaged only 22 games a season – hardly a return expected off a number one striker. There was absolutely no guarantee that his body would hold up in the seasons that came up but then again what is there a guarantee for?

From a footballing perspective, it is a terrible loss. van Persie, injuries notwithstanding, has always been a fantastic player; one of those gifted with skill and the brains to go with it. He has that piece of magic that can unlock defences and quite often, be the difference between a draw and a win; Arsenal fans witnessed that on many an occasion last term. Oliver Giroud, Lukas Podolski and van Persie looked to be a mouthwatering prospect and Arsenal fans were genuinely in the hope for some silverware this term. This move, it seems, has put the proverbial spanner in the works.

Arsene Wenger has come out and said that he was backed into a corner. Robin had only one year left on his contract and that Wenger had no choice but to let him go for something rather than nothing at the end of next season. On one level, the argument is sound. However, when there is such a statement from a manager, a fan can’t help but feel perplexed by it all.

Arsenal fans have been to hell and back over the past few seasons, watching their team come perilously close to silverware and going as far away from it as possible. They have taken a beating and then some more, but have stuck with their team through thick and thin. When they see something of this nature, it “breaks” them and rightly so.

If Arsenal were a genuine title contender with a whole lot of ambition, they would’ve held on to van Persie, come what may, and let him go on a free at the end of the season. Perhaps they would’ve won the title and that might have convinced him to stay. On the flip side, one could so easily argue that it is much better to be rid of a disgruntled player than keep him, however good he be, in the interest of the team’s morale and spirit.

While both arguments have their pros and cons, one must not discount that van Persie is a consummate professional. Unlike the Cesc saga where there was much sparring in public, van Persie’s saga was more sanguine. Of course, there were questions asked of Wenger but van Persie has, for the most part, maintained a dignified silence and has behaved quite responsibly.

One must take into account the wishes and indeed the ambitions of the player as well. If you were van Persie, would you not like to win something before you retired? And if you thought that there was a better chance of winning at a different club, would you not have taken it? Or considered it at least? van Persie did all that and took a decision. For sure, the decision is not a popular one but for him, according to him, it is a right one.

After 7 trophy-less seasons, one cannot really blame van Persie for becoming disillusioned with life in North London. The astute signings of the summer have failed to affirm his belief in the team and what it is capable of, and he decided that his time was up. He wanted to move on.

In the end, however much the fans hate it, they must accept it and move on. 24 million, if spent well, is not a tiny amount and if not right away, reinforcements could easily be brought in in January. The problem, and the biggest one for an Arsenal fan would be one more subtextual – is Arsenal now a selling club? Is this the height of their ambition? This is the question they ought to be asking of Wenger, and indeed, the board.

It is all well to say that financially, Arsenal are on firm footing and better off than pretty much every other club in the Premier League. Football is a business. There can be no two ways about it. However, which comes first – football or business?