Van Persie, 31 has said that his move to Fenerbahçe S.K. earlier this month was because of him falling short of favour from the Manchester United manager, Louis Van Gaal. Van Persie made only 4 appearances in the last 3 months to the end of the season after an ankle injury when playing against Swansea City in February, and he said he feared the most when the manager failed to bring him into the game against Chelsea, when Man U was trailing 1-0 in Stamford bridge in April.
Van Persie told sunday times :
That was one of the first signals things weren’t going in the right direction. I asked to play in the reserves, to get my minutes, but after was on the bench again. The atmosphere changed between me and Louis and people at the club saw it, but I was always professional. At that point I didn’t think to leave. [Van Persie's wife] Bouchra was happy. The kids were happy. I was happy in Manchester.
But I was still thinking we could come back from holiday and start from scratch. He had changed his mind about me before. When he took over Holland he said to me ‘You’re the No 3 striker.’ I was ‘O...K...’ but I fought and became the No 1 and his captain.
But when I came back, it wasn’t an honest battle any more. Fighting to get back in the team wasn’t given me as an option. He was sending me to Pitch Two. And I’m a mature player. I’m not stupid. I didn’t get angry or emotional. These things are part of football, part of life. You have to make the best out of any situation so I’m doing this by moving on.
I know Louis as a national team coach and now I get to know him as a club coach. And there is a difference