Transfer of Robin van Persie to Manchester United agreed

According to the BBC's David Ornstein and the Arsenal team website, terms of the transfer of striker and former captain Robin van Persie to Manchester United have been agreed, and the deal will be completed after the player agrees personal terms with the club and completes a medical exam.

According to several reports, including Ornstein's, the deal is for £24million and will be completed within the next two days. There is very little reliable information at this moment aside from that, so as things are released and reported, we'll keep you up to speed here as best as possible. But the long and short of it is that this long, awful nightmare is very nearly over.

Personally I'm torn about this. Ornstein is a very reliable reporter, so I take his report of a £24million deal as the truth. That's a lot of money for a player who is ageing (visibly) and announced that he would not sign a new contract after the season, but for a player who was our go-to man last year and to sell him to a rival...that's rough. I am not very happy on balance right now, though prudent (and rapid) reinvestment might cheer me up.

All in all, this is a player I personally liked very much, going to a team I despise. I'm glad it's over, but this is not a fun day for a lot of Arsenal fans.