Robin van Persie puts the blame squarely on Arsenal.
When Robin van Persie moved from Arsenal to Manchester United in the summer of 2012, he was branded a “snake” and so many other names.
The Dutchman did pen a letter to the Arsenal fans that he was leaving them but he never mentioned why.
That has been a secret for such a long time but not anymore as he has finally revealed the details of what led to his acrimonious exit from Arsenal.
The Dutchman had taken over the mantle of scoring the goals for Arsenal after Thierry Henry left and he had become a fan’s favourite.
However, with a single season left on his contract at the time, Van Persie decided to force a move away to Manchester United where he would eventually win a Premier League title.
He has now revealed that he left the Gunners because the team didn’t offer him a new deal at the time.
He claimed that the Gunners probably got tired of him so he had to leave.
He said as quoted in the Sun: “You can compare [me being at Arsenal] to being married. Me and my wife – Arsenal – were married for eight years.
“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.
“What people don’t know, during the transfer, loads of things are happening behind the scenes.
“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.”
Personally I do not believe him and unless the club comes out and confirms or denies his claim we will never know the real truth.
However, if the club did refuse to offer him a new contract then that does put a little bit of a different slant on things. But still, his behaviour after he left still makes him a snake.