Van Persie denies Arsenal contract claims in Man Utd transfer revelation

Joe Williams
Robin van Persie Man Utd Mikel Arteta Arsenal

Robin van Persie insists that he wasn’t offered a new contract by Arsenal before his transfer to Man Utd despite claims to the contrary.

The ex-Netherlands international controversially left Arsenal for Manchester United in 2012 and helped the Red Devils win the Premier League in his first season.

There were claims at the time that Van Persie had turned down a new deal at Arsenal to complete a move to Man Utd but the Dutchman says that isn’t true.


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“It was not only between me and Arsene Wenger, there was more happening with Ivan [Gazidis] of course and the way he behaved and the way he handled the whole situation,” Van Persie told The High Performance Podcast.

“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. That open letter… I shouldn’t have done 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.

“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.

“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.”

 

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