Ex-Arsenal star makes million-pound promise over controversial Man Utd transfer

Former Manchester United star Robin van Persie has been speaking about his controversial move from Arsenal back in 2012, explaining what forced him away from the Emirates Stadium. Van Persie was a Gunner great, scoring 96 goals in 194 league games, but he lost credit from many Arsenal fans, departing on the cheap after his contract was allowed to go into its final year.

Things turned out just fine for the Dutchman, who scored 48 goals in 88 league games for United, winning the Premier League title along the way. But he is often asked about his decision to leave the Gunners and to not sign a new contract at the time.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Van Persie has now opened up on the decision, revealing that he proposed changes that Arsenal should make as a club only to see the move backfire. “I get that (the criticism). 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," said the former striker, who is now a youth coach at Feyenoord.

“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 [Gazidis] 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 United, we won the league, so it’s perfectly fine for me."