Transfer News: Robin van Persie to Manchester United

According to reports all over the Twitter, the Robin van Persie to Manchester United move is official. You can read the story here from the SB Nation mothership. I'll try to keep my Gooner-ish feelings out of this for the most part and keep it to what this means for Premier League fantasy which is, of course, why you're here.

Let's break it down on the other side of the jump:

Fantasy Ups/Downs:

• Olivier Giroud: Way Up - He should step in as van Persie's direct replacement as the "9" in Arsenal's formation. Unless he's a disaster he should be good for between 18 and 20 goals at a really cheap price. Hard not to like that.
• Lukas Podolski: Up a Little - Podolski is likely to get more time on the left side of the attacking formation than as a direct replacement for RvP but as a player able to do either, he'll likely get rotated into the 9 spot occasionally with Gervinho playing to the left when Giroud needs a rest.
• Chicharito and Danny Welbeck: Down Significantly - Sir Alex may be creative with where he deploys Rooney but the inescapable conclusion is that these guys will be pulling up a spot on the bench and getting plenty of time to read a good book or whatever one does on the bench in the rain in Manchester.
• Robin van Persie: Down - It will take a little time to figure out how he fits at Old Trafford but with lots of options to take kicks and penalties and be the focal point of the attack he's going to go from being the main man to being part of an ensemble cast. I'd say he's likely to score 15 to 18 goals with 8 assists. A great season but not one worthy of the price he's currently going for.
• Wayne Rooney: Down - Same logic as van Persie above. The attack won't improve enough to accommodate fantasy points at least season's levels for both players. The inevitable conclusion is that both end up being about 75% of the fantasy player they were at their best last season.