Former Arsenal and Man Utd star Robin van Persie has gone into lengthy detail about the reasons why he left the Gunners for their rivals in 2012.
The 36-year-old spent eight years in north London, scoring 132 goals in 278 games for Arsenal but only managed to pick up one piece of major silverware in that time in the form of the FA Cup in 2005.
SEE MORE: £27m Arsenal summer signing undergoes surgery and faces six-week layoff on loan spell
He went on to score 58 goals in just 105 games for United, immediately winning the title in the 2012/13 campaign, and so the decision to move on proved to be a fruitful one on a personal level.
However, Van Persie has now revealed the ‘facts’ surrounding the decision to leave the Gunners with his contract expiring, as he has insisted that an offer of a renewal simply wasn’t there and so he had no choice but to consider other options and move on.
“You can compare [me being at Arsenal] to being married. Me and my wife – Arsenal – were married for eight years,” he told BT Sport, as seen in the video below. “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 a look around. I was ambitious. I still wanted to win the league. That is life.
“I ended up having three options. One option abroad disappeared quickly. Then it was City or Manchester United.”
This latest revelation surely isn’t going to go down well with Arsenal fans in term of their feelings towards Arsene Wenger and the hierarchy as to how they dealt with the situation, as they lost their star man at the time to their direct rivals who went on win the Premier League title the following season.
Van Persie was speaking at the Emirates ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Burnley on Saturday, having now joined the BT Sport team as a pundit this year. Based on this interview alone he’ll surely have repaired a lot of damage done to his legacy at Arsenal, with fans now having a bigger picture to look at.
?? Must watch for Arsenal fans ??
"After eight years, my wife (Arsenal) possibly got a bit tired of me."
"The fact is, Arsenal never offered me a deal."
"Three options: abroad, City or United."@Persie_Official explains EXACTLY why he left the Gunners…#EarlyKickOff pic.twitter.com/tm7pKSCTzh
— Watch #EarlyKickOff live on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 17, 2019
