Man United are willing to pay Robin van Persie £5m to leave Old Trafford

Manchester United will offer Robin van Persie £5million to quit the club this summer.

The 31-year-old striker has 14 months left on his £250,000-a-week contract at Old Trafford, but United officials are understood to be willing to pay the remaining half of a £10m loyalty bonus — agreed when he signed from Arsenal in 2012 — to free up wages for another striker.

Italian giants Juventus and Inter Milan have both been linked with a summer move and United bosses are willing to take a cut-price fee, as they realise Van Persie will have to take a pay cut to join a Serie A side. 

Lazio are also interested. Radamel Falcao and Javier Hernandez are also expected to leave in the summer, and United have been linked with Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani and Memphis Depay of PSV.

 

Louis van Gaal’s side are third in the Premier League and go into Sunday’s derby against City at Old Trafford knowing a win will put them four points clear of their rivals. And City players stand to lose £500,000 each in bonuses if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.

The champions give star men such as Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Joe Hart and Yaya Toure incentivised deals to stay within Financial Fair Play requirements and they will miss out on a payday if City fail to reach the group stages of Europe’s top competition.

The top three qualify automatically with the fourth-place team entering a qualifying round. City are fourth, five points clear of Southampton and seven ahead of Liverpool, who host Newcastle on Monday night.

I don't like this one bit sha.