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Ahead of Sunday’s fixture against Manchester United, Arsene Wenger has said it still pains him to see Robin van Persie playing for the Red Devils.
Van Persie moved to Old Trafford for £25m last summer after eight seasons with the North London based club, scoring over 100 competitive goals. The man who brought him to England and nurtured his talent struggles to see a rival club now benefiting from all his hard work.
“Of course it’s strange because for me he is an Arsenal man,” Wenger said.
“I took him when he was a very, very young player. We have gone together through very difficult periods, and he became a world-class player and for me he is an Arsenal player.”
The Arsenal boss, who is the Premier League’s longest serving manager, claims that the now departed Dutch coach Rene Meulensteen was the deciding factor for van Persie and felt he had no other option than to sell his prized-asset.
“Robin van Persie had been convinced by the Dutch coach who was at Manchester United, (so) that played a big part,” Wenger said.
“It was more the fact that I had the conversations I had with Robin van Persie that convinced me, it is not the talk with Alex Ferguson that convinced me to sell Robin van Persie to Man United.
“It is the head-to-head talks I had with van Persie many, many times that convinced me that I had to sell him.
“I think in the end I had to decide ‘Do I do it or not?’ Knowing I will get huge criticism for doing it. But I just decided because at the end of the day I felt it was the best thing to do.”
Unlike most Arsenal fans, Wenger still believes van Persie has the Gunners at heart and the move was completely success based – a fact the club’ supporters can hardly argue against after seeing their side fail to win a trophy since 2005.
Robin van Persie scored 26 goals last season and played in every game of the season as Manchester United brought the Premier League crown back to the Theatre of Dreams.
