Van Persie slashed for Boot as United agree fee
ROBIN VAN PERSIE has been slashed from quotes as large as 11-1 to finish top of the goalscoring charts once again this season after Manchester United confirmed the club have agreed a transfer fee with Arsenal for the services of the reigning Golden Boot winner.
The move is subject to a medical – which will take place in Manchester on Thursday– and on the player agreeing personal terms but that is unlikely to be a problem given United have been tracking the striker all summer.
Bookmakers were running for cover in the Golden Boot market with Hills and Ladbrokes taking the most drastic action, cutting the Dutchman to 6-1 after reporting a flood of money, with Coral’s 9-1 the best price about van Persie retaining his goalscoring crown.
Van Persie grabbed 30 Premier League goals last season and is 5-6 with bet365 to notch at least 18 this term, although he is considered a narrow 10-11 outsider to beat potential new team-mate Wayne Rooney, who is 4-5 in the match bet.
Rooney scored a personal best 27 top-flight goals and is shorter for the Golden Boot at 9-1 and it will be interesting to see which hotshot is on penalty duty this term. On that subject, BetVictor have priced up who takes the first Premier League spot-kick with Rooney 4-6 and van Persie 11-10.
BetVictor rate Rooney 11-10 to be the top United goalscorer with van Persie at 11-8 and Danny Welbeck comes next in that list at 14-1. Javier Hernandez is 25-1 to finish as United’s best marksman such is the firepower at Old Trafford and BetVictor rate the Red Devils evens to finish the campaign with a major trophy.
With Sir Alex Ferguson set to add van Persie to his forward line, United have understandably been chopped to win the Premier League and are best at 5-2 with Blue Square after the 13-5 rapidly bit the dust, although champions Manchester City remain the 13-10 favourites.
While United can claim to be winners in the deal, the opposite is true of Arsenal, who were pushed out to 14-1 by a number of firms to win the title and securing a Champions League spot will once again be Arsene Wenger’s priority this season.
Arsenal are 8-13 for a top-four finish with Tottenham (2-1) and Liverpool (5-2) seen as the Gunners’ biggest threat to a place in Europe’s elite competition.
However, whether the Arsenal supporters can be satisfied with just looking to finish in the top four and not push for major honours is another question entirely.
Hills are 1-4 that Wenger’s trophy drought continues in 2012-13, although he has already signed potential replacements in Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, who are both 33-1 pokes for the Golden Boot.
