I found it quite interesting. I'm not sure if he had said out loud before that Arsenal didn't even offer him a new deal, which forced him to choose between us and City at the end of the 2011/12. He's not saying that he would've stayed, and he probably wouldn't, but it seems like an absolutely criminal decision by Wenger not even to make an offer.
Robin van Persie BT Sport interview
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I found it quite interesting. I'm not sure if he had said out loud before that Arsenal didn't even offer him a new deal, which forced him to choose between us and City at the end of the 2011/12. He's not saying that he would've stayed, and he probably wouldn't, but it seems like an absolutely criminal decision by Wenger not even to make an offer.
Glad wenger made that decision so he became ours.
RVP in 2012: ""I've thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract."
RVP in 2019: "They didn't offer me a new deal".
Yeah he knows it was a dick move, so he's trying to rewrite history.
RVP in 2019: "They didn't offer me a new deal".
Yeah he knows it was a dick move, so he's trying to rewrite history.
He decided not to extend his contract without being offered one ? The club supported him for 6/7 years of constant injuries, has a big season then decides he's the man and calls the shots. I smell bullshit and backtracking from this. He's the one who decided to publish that letter and leave for United.
Comments from Arsenal fans will be interesting. 
To me it seems like Arsenal didn’t offer him the wage he wanted. Or the power.
Arsenal the feeder club
I think both decided it was best to leave. During that period, Arsenal had to sell players to stay in the black. It was either that or give a 29 year old a mega contract.
Yeah, it's highly possible that he is simply lying here, of course. Perhaps we'll hear some reaction from the Arsenal board or Wenger himself if this is the case?
Doubt it. Why even bother make a public statement about something 7 years ago. Plus Arsenal board/Wenger aren’t the vocal type.
Seems like he’s sharing half truths. No deal from Arsenal can also be interpreted as no deal where the terms were right or the money he felt he deserved. So he jumped ship.
This is still sore for Arsenal fans. Like poking an open wound.
Isn’t it likely that following meetings with the club it became clear that the two parties are not going to come to an agreement so Arsenal decided it would be a waste of time to offer a new contract? I’m sure if RVP had indicated he wanted to stay they would have presented him with a contract offer. If he was clear on his decision then that would’ve been futile.
Arsenal only had themselves to blame, they should have got him signed down to a long term deal. It was a string of players that ran down there contracts. Nasri, Sagna, Clichy ect... It was a poor policy and they lost players because of it. He made the right call at the time, he won the league the year after. If Fergie had stayed a few years, he probably would have won more. Can understand fans being hurt that there captain left but it's the clubs fault.
Not a dick move. They weren’t offering him what he was worth so he left to win the league.
Well we weren't in the meeting so I suppose we'll never know for sure, but at the time it was pretty obvious he left us because he didn't think we we ambitious enough and he wanted immediate success. Nothing was mentioned about contract offers at the time. Now 7 years later he cames up with a new story? I'm not buying it.
Sure, we did mistakes and we paid for them, and if RVP wanted immediate success he got it, so good for him (although of course I hated seeing it happen) but he said it himself in the famous letter to fans, he didn't share the clubs vision for the future blah blah blah, nobody at the time mentioned anything about not offering him a new contract. I would respect RVP more if he just owned up to what he did instead of making these lame excuses almost a decade later.
I don't think we didn't offer him a good contract, he himself admitted he wanted success so he went after it, which of course he had all the right to do. Being Arsenal's captain and leaving for United is the definition of a dick move, especially for a guy that still lived the great rivalry of the 2000's. He knows it that's why he's making excuses now.
As I said, think fans are still hurt from that transfer. Don't think it will ever matter to arsenal fans what he says. He got serious abuse rightly or wrongly at the time, he didn't celebrate against the club until feelings were voiced from the fans. He's more a United cult figure and will be remembered for our 20th title, it will always boil the piss of Arsenal fans.
Sure it still hurts, I loved the guy. But he's contradicting what he said at the time, so I see no reason to believe him now. It feels like an attempt to justify himself to the fans "hey I wanted to stay, but they didn't want me"... c'mon...
Arsenal absolutely fecked up in the way they handled players contract but that's not the issue here. It was not a rumor, he litteraly wrote it and published it online. Very weird timing to come up with that so many years after. BT probably wanted a tasty soundbite and he gave them what they wanted.
So, is he lying?
I think so.
He might have decided to not extend on the basis that they hadn't given him an offer before his contract got down to his last year. He didn't say "I am rejecting an existing offer"
Plenty of articles and rumors from 2011 and before saying Arsenal offered him a new contract with a big pay raise. And he came from a 30 goal season. And he was our best player and captain. I don't think it's realistic to believe Arsenal didn't show interest in renewing his contract before he told the club he wanted to leave.
Cynic in me says he’s waited for both Wenger and Gazidis to leave to basically come up with this lie knowing that there’s no one really at Arsenal who would officially come out and correct him.
I suspect we will hear closer to the truth whenever Arsene decides to bring out an autobiography
Wish that presenter wouldn’t keep interrupting him. Knob.
I presume that he's referring to the summer before and the build up to that final meeting. So it was at that point that he decided "right, there's nothing more to discuss" ergo decided not to extend (the aim of that final meeting was surely to begin talks over an extension- but they didn't even get to the financial discussions).
Jake Humphrey is the most annoying man on TV.
I love him, but I feel he's just trying to improve his broken relation with Arsenal so maybe he got a job there in the coaching stuff in the future or something.
That'd be a fascinating read actually, has he ever talked of releasing one?
Should’ve brought up that celebration in 2014! Beautiful moment
He's doing what Fabregas did when the latter went Chelsea. When that move happened Fabregas tried to intimate that Arsenal didn't want him. Wenger in his usual classy way just simply said "He landed where he wanted to go" and Mourinho came out and said there was never any competition for Cesc. Both statements suggest that Fabregas agreed to go to Chelsea and Arsenal were never really in the picture.
Fabregas just came out with sweet words to try and maintain a good relationship with Arsenal fans for his personal brand and post football career.
Van Persie isn't doing any different. Never mind that it contradicts what happened at the time and ignores the fact that after years of selling our best players the club would have wanted to keep our captain and star player. The optics were horrible for the club at the time and he knows it. It's not like we had a young Henry coming through the ranks at the time either.
Two snakes.
There's not a snowballs chance in hell that Arsenal didn't offer him a new deal.
Just admit you fecked them over for money and trophies and move on.
Just admit you fecked them over for money and trophies and move on.
I'd respect him more if he did just come out and say that. Everyone knows he screwed over the club, there are fans out there who secretly think he was right to do so, given the state of the club at the time and our horrible transfer dealings.
People aren't upset that he left, everyone was upset at where he went. But there isn't an Arsenal fan in the world who doesn't understand his frustrations at the time.
Just own up to the truth and be done with it. The fans will never welcome him back with open arms but this just makes him seem like even more of a snake.
My intake is that by saying that they did not offer him a new deal, he probably means they offered him the same terms as his current one at that time. Not an improved offer. No need for RVP to come out with his side so late after 7 years and to lie about it. So it probably is true. Wasn't Arsenal trying to balance their books at that time and trying to cut down on the wages too?
Seems odd that Arsenal fans would be screaming "disloyalty" after the way they treated Wenger. God knows where you'd be if it weren't for that man, yet the way he was hounded out by a huge part of your support was disgraceful.
Van Persie left because you were useless, and he'd have wasted the latter days of his career had he have stayed there and ended up winning nothing. But he's hardly going to come out and say that is he?
Then he should just shut up instead of lying. BT ordered 1 juicy soundbite, he delivered, well done to him.
Leaving for the opportunity to win a league title is hardly "screwing" anyone over. Was he supposed to stay and win next to nothing for a couple more years until his legs went?
It was a good deal for both parties. United got a a player that won them the league. Arsenal got a fee for a player in the last year of his contract with not many years left in the tank. Van Persie's legs went less than 2 years later. United paid £25m for one very good season, one average one and one very poor one, and got something like £2m for him from Fenerbahce.
I feel its similar to us with Van Nistelrooy. It was shit to lose him at the time, but only his 1st season at Madrid was top class. His decline was rapid after that, so in hindsight, it was the right time to sell.
It was a good deal for both parties. United got a a player that won them the league. Arsenal got a fee for a player in the last year of his contract with not many years left in the tank. Van Persie's legs went less than 2 years later. United paid £25m for one very good season, one average one and one very poor one, and got something like £2m for him from Fenerbahce.
I feel its similar to us with Van Nistelrooy. It was shit to lose him at the time, but only his 1st season at Madrid was top class. His decline was rapid after that, so in hindsight, it was the right time to sell.