One of football’s most shocking transfers in the summer transfer window of 2012 was Robin van Persie’s £24m move to league rivals Manchester United, despite Arsenal’s then manager Arsene Wenger pleading with the Dutch striker not to join a rival club, and despite intense interest from Juventus and Manchester City at the same time. Premier League standings.However, Van Persie chose to join Manchester United where his ambition could be realized, thus earning Van Persie the blame for his ambition. However, a rather interesting fact is that Van Persie joined Manchester United, behind the fact that Arsene Wenger and Ferguson’s two arch-rival managers jointly facilitated. This is a transfer story few people know.
Wenger was aware of Van Persie’s intention to leave long before he announced he would not be signing a new contract at Arsenal and, after repeated attempts to persuade him to do so, has accepted that it is better not to join a Premier League rival. But such a request is not easy to say. Manchester City, two men covetously to van Persie for a long time, and Serie A giants Juventus, although also interested in the Dutch striker, but they are only willing to take out 8 million euros transfer fee, unable to form competition with other bidders. Therefore, van Persie in the Premier League to achieve re-employment is almost inevitable. Ferguson, meanwhile, has vowed to bring the Premier League title back to Old Trafford, furious at being outgunned by city rivals Manchester City.
As a result, Van Persie, who has just one year left on his contract and has refused to extend it, is in Sir Alex’s sights. However, David Gill, the United chief executive, has been unable to reach an agreement with Arsenal over Van Persie’s transfer and has been forced to leave the problem to Ferguson, the veteran manager, to settle the matter directly with Wenger in a gentlemanly duel. So Ferguson made a phone call to Arsene Wenger and, after some intelligent but also acrimous haggling at either end, the two legendary managers agreed on a transfer for Van Persie, the Dutch striker joining Manchester for a once-elusive £22.5m plus a £1.5m variable fee, a historic move. It was settled with ease, rewriting the history books of both clubs.
In fact, Robin van Persie’s move from Arsenal to Manchester United was almost thrown into doubt at the last minute. Van Persie wanted to leave Arsenal because Arsenal could not win the trophy he wanted, so he wanted to move to the stronger Manchester United to realize his ambition. However, Arsenal brought in a series of quality players in the summer such as Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski, which made Van Persie reluctant to leave. At one point, he even wanted to take back his decision to stay at Arsenal. But after a warm-up game against Cologne, Wenger himself told Van Persie, almost ruthlessly, that the club would sell him if a fee could be agreed and that the Dutch striker was no longer in their plans for the new season.
As a result, Van Persie’s departure accelerated after this ultimatum, which is perhaps why Van Persie celebrated wildly after scoring against his old boss in the new season. It is worth mentioning that, according to Wenger himself, in 2015, when Van Persie left Manchester United, he once called his former mentor and expressed his desire to return to Arsenal, but Wenger refused. The reason for the rejection, Wenger did not say, but there is no doubt that, despite Van Persie’s decline in form, the fact that he has betrayed the team in the past is unlikely to revive Wenger’s relationship with the mentor and apprentice, who have been bitter enemies since he joined United.