Real Madrid want Van Persie - but why would he go?

ARE REAL MADRID are on the brink of pouncing for Arsenal striker Robin van Persie? That’s the extraordinary claim made by the Daily Mirror. The Dutch dynamo took his tally this season to 19 on Saturday as the Gunners beat Everton 1-0, and the Mirror claims that Jose Mourinho is eyeing up the 28-year-old sharpshooter.

The paper says that sources close to Van Persie reckon that even though he has been at the Emirates for seven years, “sentiment will not totally cloud his final decision”.

But with Real losing to Barcelona on Saturday, again, would Van Persie want to swap the Gunners for the inconsistent boys at the Bernabeu even if, as the Mirror claims, they would pay him a staggering £250,000 a week?

In addition, if former Gunner turned BBC pundit Martin Keown is to be believed, Thierry Henry might be back at the Emirates on a more temporary basis rather than as a spectator in the stands as he was on Saturday.

“I can't help thinking he might just come back and play some sort of cameo role alongside Robin van Persie,” declared Keown of the player who scored 226 goals for the Gunners in his seven-year career. The 34-year-old Frenchman has been keeping himself in shape with Arsenal and, according to Keown, “they can't get the ball off him in training because he's that good”.

On the other side of north London, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has made it clear that Roman Pavlyuchenko won’t be going anywhere until he’s satisfied that his side won’t be left under-strength up-front. The Russian ace has struggled for regular game time this season at the Lane thanks to the form of Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor, and rumours suggest he wants out.

But Talksport quotes Redknapp as saying: “If he decides he wants to go and the club get a good offer then we've got to be ready to replace him from somewhere... [but] if we let Pav go we'd leave ourselves short.”

Elsewhere, Paris Saint Germain sporting director Leonardo has confirmed that the club are making enquiries about Carlos Tevez. In an interview with the Italian paper Corriere della Sera, Leonardo said the Argentine striker hopes to move to AC Milan - but there’s a problem. “I spoke with the player's agent and he told me that Carlitos preferred to go to Milan,” said Leonardo. “But Manchester wants to sell and not loan. If City agree to loan Tevez then he goes to Milan, the case is closed. Otherwise the market is open.”

Not surprisingly City want to get shot of the stroppy South American permanently after his pitch-side bust-up with manager Roberto Mancini in September. According to the BBC, Milan made City an offer on December 6 but City have knocked it back, leaving open the door for PSG. ·