7 players who left Arsenal for bigger clubs

#5 Robin Van Persie

Robin Van Persie moved to Manchester United - and subsequently helped them win the Premier League

In a strange set of circumstances, Arsenal essentially handed the 2012/13 Premier League title to Manchester United on a silver platter by selling star striker Robin Van Persie to their rivals in the summer of 2012. Van Persie – who scored 37 goals in all competitions in 2011/12 and was Arsenal’s captain at the time – had refused to sign a new deal at the Emirates, and was able to walk away for free in the summer of 2013, but it was still a surprise to see him move to United.

Van Persie for his part claimed there were no hard feelings between him and Arsenal and that he’d pushed to move to United as that was his wish, but Arsenal fans seemingly didn’t feel the same way – while they held nothing against the player, it was clearly frustrating to see them selling to a rival, especially for a relatively cut-price of £22.5m.

To make matters worse, Van Persie couldn’t stop scoring in his first season at Old Trafford; he plundered 30 goals in all competitions, 26 of which came in the Premier League, and almost single-handedly returned the Premier League title to United. If any sale seemed to confirm Arsenal’s new place on the Premier League’s totem pole, it was this one.