As Arsenal prepare to take on Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, Arsene Wenger has spoken out about his decision to sell Robin Van Persie to United.
The Arsenal manager states that he had to decide whether to keep Van Persie or sell him, and in the end he felt selling him was the best thing to do.
The Mirror reports that Wenger said, “Only Robin van Persie can tell you that [why he left Arsenal]. I’m not in the position to do that. 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.
“Of course it’s strange for me to see him in a [United] shirt because for me he’s an Arsenal man. 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.”
Many big name players have left Arsenal in the past so I am sure Wenger knew that if Van Persie were to leave, the club would just continue on. And continue on we have done. Olivier Giroud has stepped up now as our main striker and the addition of Mesut Ozil has given us that additional world class player in our side.
Wenger goes on to suggest that Van Persie may have become impatient at Arsenal as we have not won anything in a while, and thus the striker wanted to leave.
Wenger said: “Sometimes it’s linked with age. Robin van Persie was 29 when he left and impatient. We have gone through years where we had to be tight financially and we did it in a way that was logical and normal without fading too much at the top level.
“Some players saw the other big clubs buying world named players and of course they lost a little bit confidence that we can compete with them. It’s understandable.
“I think we have always been consistent in the way we thought the club has to be run but at some stage we can turn the corner. Hopefully we have done it this year.”
Well Van Persie has gotten the trophy he was wishing for last season when he helped Manchester United win the league but that will most likely be his last piece of silverware at the club as United seem to be struggling this season following the departure of Alex Ferguson. I am sure in a couple of seasons time, Van Persie will regret leaving Arsenal for the lure of one medal.
In wenger we trust.