It’s amazing to think that no one would really bat an eyelid if a player moved between Man United and Arsenal just now, but there was a time when it was a big deal.
Arsene Wenger’s final years at Arsenal were always spent putting up a faint title challenge before falling away eventually, so Robin van Persie decided to leave for Old Trafford where he would finally get his hands on the Premier League trophy.
That joy was short lived when Alex Ferguson retired and left him dealing with David Moyes, and van Persie’s career did start to go downhill after that.
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He was not popular at all with Arsenal fans after that switch so a return to the club would’ve been very unlikely, but it does sound like he tried.
A report from The Mirror has quoted Arsene Wenger in saying that van Persie phoned him in 2015 to ask about a return to Arsenal, but Wenger decided that he wanted to focus on the younger players, while the Dutchman was also at the end of his career.
It would’ve been incredible to see but it’s likely that the fans wouldn’t be too impressed with the return, while his form after leaving United showed that Wenger probably made the right call here.