Robin Van Persie Finally Opens Up About His Arsenal Departure

Posted Sunday, August 18, 2019 by thesportbible.com

Robin van Persie says Arsenal's failure to offer him a new contract at the Emirates led to him leaving in a controversial but fruitful switch to Manchester United in 2012.

The Dutch international, who scored 132 goals in 280 appearances for the Gunners, couldn't contain "the little boy inside him screaming for Manchester United" and sealed a ￡22 million move up North.

Van Persie would go on to almost single-handedly steer United to one more final Premier League title under Sir Alex Ferguson but joining a Premier League rival saw his relationship with Arsenal fans sour badly.

But the Feyenoord youth product's version of how the situation panned out is different to what had been widely reported.

"You can compare me being at Arsenal to being married. Me and my wife - Arsenal - were married for eight years," Van Persie stated during his appearance as a pundit for BT Sport.

"After eight years, my wife, possibly got a bit tired of me. Those are the facts.

"If Arsenal are not offering you a new deal...you can have different views on things but the fact is Arsenal never offered me a new deal.

"Then you have to look around. I was ambitious. I still wanted to win the league. That is life."

Van Persie had just come off the back of a stunning season in which he scored 30 Premier League goals for Arsenal and won both the PFA fans' and players' player of the year awards.

With no progress with Arsenal on the contract front and only a year remaining on his existing deal, Van Persie wasn't short of offers.

"I ended up having three options. One option abroad disappeared quite shortly after, then it was City or Manchester United," the 36-year old added.

"What people don't know, during the transfer, behind the scenes loads of things are happening. You have to take a lot on and make a choice based on what your targets are but also deal with the facts.

"One of the main facts was that Arsenal got tired of me. That was the starting point - they didn't offer me a new deal. We had loads of chats with Wenger, with [Ivan] Gazidis - they gave me no decision to make."

Robin Van Persie Finally Opens Up About His Arsenal Departure

Regarding his rapport with the Arsenal fans, Van Persie said: "When it comes to a situation like that, of course I get that the fans were not happy with me and I stand by choice to go. But they didn't really get the whole picture. I don't hold any grudge towards Arsenal whatsoever."

Van Persie would score 58 goals in 105 games for United and while his final two seasons were disrupted by injury, United supporters were always be grateful for his heroics in 2012/13 - their last Premier League title triumph.