Robin van Persie says he left Arsenal to join Manchester United, because he was completely sure they would win trophies this season.
The Dutch striker has not won a trophy since he lifted the FA Cup, in his first season with the Gunners, but has now added a Premier League medal, after seven years of waiting.
“I wouldn’t have moved if I’d had doubts,” Van Persie told the club’s official website. “Instead, from day one I was almost certain we’d win trophies – not in a couple of years but this year. I could see in everybody’’s faces how determined they were.
“Everything is about lifting the trophy. This is the feeling you dream of. We won the Uefa Cup at Feyenoord three months after I started and I remember thinking that winning trophies was part of being a footballer but I’ve realised since then it’s not that simple. I’ve waited for this for a long time.”
The 29-year-old has had a splendid season for United, scoring 29 times – including a hat-trick against Aston Villa, which sealed their 20th League title.
“Even if I’d have scored half the number of goals and we’d won the league I’d still have been happy,” he said. “The Golden Boot would be like a bonus. In a way it’s not an honest award – even if you end up with the most goals in a season, those goals are the team’s goals and many will have been made possible by other players.
“Everybody wanted to help me and everybody told me they wanted to share the success with me. I also have to say that the fans have been great with me from the beginning. They gave me a lot of confidence.
“You get spells that don’t go so well, when you don’t score so many goals, and I had one of those this season but that 10-game streak where I didn’t score seemed a bigger issue for the media than it was for me.
“Even so, I kept clearing headers from corner kicks, I cleared balls off the goal-line, I set up team-mates to score goals. I was never worried that I’d never score a goal again in my life. I’m not a player who only thinks about scoring goals – I want to give football more than that.”
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