The real reason why Man Utd boss Louis Van Gaal sold Robin Van Persie

Posted Monday, July 27, 2015 by Express.co.uk

LOUIS VAN GAAL has revealed the real reason why he ruthlessly dumped Robin Van Persie this summer – the sports science stats showed his Dutch compatriot was in decline.

Van Persie, 32, was Van Gaal’s captain at last summer’s World Cup when the Netherlands finished third and he scored one of the goals of the tournament.

But the former Arsenal star was sold to Turkish club Fenerbahce for a cut-price £4.7m after missing big chunks of the last two seasons through injury when his scoring record dipped from 30 in his debut campaign, to 18 the following season and only 10 last season.

Van Gaal, who told Van Persie his United career was over while they were playing golf in May, said he refused to allow sentiment to cloud a decision taken purely for football reasons.

He said: “People have written that Van Persie is my favourite player and that I protected him and, yes, maybe I have done that.

The real reason why Man Utd boss Louis Van Gaal sold Robin Van Persie
Louis Van Gaal and Robin Van Persie's relationship broke down

"But in the end you always have to evaluate which players have contributed to our fourth place, which players a little bit and which players no contribution and then you make decisions.

"But you make decisions on facts and not on other things. It is a process. It is what we have experienced in the whole season with each other. You have to oversee all the aspects.”

United performance analysts, it is understood, believed Van Persie ‘peaked’ in his last year at Arsenal and first season at United – he scored an astonishing 67 goals in those two years – but was in rapid decline and would spend more and more time out injured.