Former striker Robin van Persie is a deeply unpopular figure amongst the Arsenal fanbase, and nearly 12 years after his exit, he has still tried to justify his actions.
Van Persie scored 37 goals in his final season at the club, who had seen key players Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri force their way out whilst Arsene Wenger was keeping Arsenal in the top four despite financial issues.
He had just one year left on his contract, and after issuing a statement expressing his desire to leave, he committed an unforgivable sin by joining Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
The Dutchman has now denied original claims that Arsenal offered him a new deal, sensationally claiming that the club pushed him out instead of him forcing the exit.
Robin van Persie makes Arsenal contract claim
Speaking on the High-Performance podcast, Van Persie claimed that former Chairman Ivan Gazidis pushed him to the exit door at Arsenal.
“I can promise you on my kids if someone comes with proof that Arsenal offered me a deal, I will give you a million [pounds] now, today,” he stated.
“It was Arsenal’s decision not to offer me a deal and that is up to them. After many conversations, it became clear that we had different ideas about the club.
“I had seven points where I thought Arsenal could improve and in my opinion those seven points they should start dealing with them straight away to be able to compete with the best teams.
“It doesn’t really matter what points they are, what matters is that Ivan [Gazidis] decided that he didn’t agree with one single point of those seven points – which is fair enough.”
Van Persie has contradicted Arsenal’s statement over his departure
Following his statement in 2012, outlining where he believed the club could improve, Arsenal issued a statement in response.
“We have to respect Robin’s decision not to renew his contract. Robin has one year to run on his current contract and we are confident that he will fulfil his commitments to the club,” the statement read.
This clearly indicates that it was Van Persie’s choice not to sign a new deal, and given his exceptional performances in his final season, Arsenal would obviously have preferred to keep him if he was willing to sign.
Although he did win a Premier League title at Man United, he played under Ferguson for just one season before he retired, and United went on a downward spiral whilst Arsenal challenged for the league and won the FA Cup in his second season at Old Trafford.
Even if his points about Arsenal’s ambition at the time were somewhat justified given the seven-year trophy drought the club was enduring, the pure fact at the time was that he had pushed for the exit rather than the club deciding they no longer wanted him, no matter how he tries to spin the story now.
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