Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, has suggested that Robin van Persie left the club last summer, because his body-clock was ticking away, as he desperately looked to win a trophy.
The Frenchman even went ahead to compare him to a 39-year-old woman who was brooding.
“He had arrived at the age of 29 and thought, ‘can we win the championship here or do I have more chances to win it somewhere else’?” Wenger said.
“There’s a kind of timescale – like for a woman who has no baby at 39. She starts to think I have not much time left now.”
Wenger also hinted that Van Persie was sold, because there was the fear that he might sulk through the final year of his contract at the Emirates.
He admitted it was one of the hardest decisions he has made, but insisted that his former captain who forced the move.
“Yes, of course it was one of the hardest decisions,” he continued. “But at some stage you have to be realistic. I can explain to you what is around that story one day. I am sure that you will be much more comprehensive about it.
“It is difficult for all the players when a player does not want to be here, to force him to be here and know that at the end of the season the club does not get anything with knowing that he might not contribute as well. So you are twice a loser.
“We have lost some other big players like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, they had won with the club and they were around 30 or 31. He could help us to win because we haven’t won for a few years. That he left before that, was frustrating for us.
“It was completely honest with Robin. We had a frank exchange of views. He’s an honest guy, Robin. He tells you the truth. The truth is what you want. He was respectful until the end and we cannot complain.”
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