Robin Van Persie has claimed that Arsenal did not offer him a new contract, and that he had no choice but to leave the club with Ivan Gazidis refusing to try and improve things.
The former Dutch striker left the Emirates in 2012 to join Manchester United in a heavily criticised move, and many fans turned on him following the transfer.
Van Persie was labelled the enemy when he supposedly forced a move to the Red Devils, but he has now claimed that he was never offered a new deal by our side.
The 36 year-old claims that he sat down with Gazidis to discuss how things could be improved at the club, having failed to win the Premier League since 2004, but his requests fell on deaf-ears.
RVP makes it sound as if he only had intentions to help improve the club, and was forced out for his beliefs.
“It was not only between me and Arsene Wenger, there was more happening with Ivan of course and the way he behaved and the way he handled the whole situation,” he said.
“If I look back at that whole situation, I have to look at myself as well, where I could have done better or could have done something differently. If I look back, that open letter I shouldn’t have done that.
“If I look back at that, in such a delicate, difficult situation of making a transfer after spending so much time at Arsenal, to make a decision to write an open letter to tell my truth in two pages was impossible.”
Van Persie adds that he should maybe have gone about things a little better, after writing a letter which ended up going to the newspaper, but he had no other outlet for his actions.
He added: “I think back then it went to the newspaper because there was not social media. So I did that, and that was because I was disappointed with Ivan and his behaviour.
“But I could not go into detail about what exactly back then, because it’s just impossible to tell the whole story behind it. And partly it was the fact that Arsenal did not offer me a new deal. So if I look back at that, I should have done that better.”
Van Persie then moves to reiterate his story that he was never offered a deal: “I get that. But 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.
“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 decided that he didn’t agree with one single point of those seven points – which is fair enough.
“So taking that information on board, Arsenal doesn’t offer me a deal, they didn’t agree with my views – which were only to help, honest views of how the club should move forward – that is a very clear message.
“For me it is not an issue anymore, that’s life. That’s life at the top clubs, businesses make decisions and players as well in this case do as well. I’m perfectly happy with how it ended up, I went to Manchester United, we won the league, so it’s perfectly fine for me.
“I’m not angry with Ivan. I’m grateful to have worked with Arsene for eight years, he played such a crucial part in my career. I can honestly say that without his influence I would not have been the player I ended up becoming. So I’m happy, I’m thankful, it’s just that there are certain facts that you can’t look away from.
“Ivan and me didn’t really click, that can happen as well. But it’s a big man’s world and there is a moment where you have to move on.”
Dis the Arsenal hierarchy force RVP out the club? Do the club need to take blame in their failings?
Patrick
Why am i not surprised?
Calling one of the best scorers we ever had “judas” – shame on you. As said, he didn’t get a decent offer. So, walk right in, sit right down, daddy let your mind roll on… Robban Persie was marvelous. Watch the way he scored and you realize how much better he was than the stars today.
Sir Alex Ferguson on the19th November 2019:
“The boy wanted to come. He turned down various clubs. If he hadn’t told Arsenal he wanted to go to Manchester United, the transfer wouldn’t have happened”.
Following on: “I thought Arsenal are not going to let him go, When I read HE HAD REFUSED A NEW CONTRACT, that is when we acted. It has been a long haul”.
So, one has a choice – either believe the two greatest managers at that time, who have both said he refused a new contract, or the player who kept saying he was delaying signing a new contract until after the world cup, but is now saying he was never offered a new contract.
Try as he may to rewrite history, this judas was obviously in talks with manure (“it was a long haul” – ferguson) and AW also hints that the Dutch coach and coach at manure, Rene Meulensteen, was part of the long haul as well.
Why he wants to ingratiate himself with the fans, manager and club he let down so badly is a mystery – just keep quite and live with your choice.