Van Persie denies being handed new contract at Arsenal before Man Utd move

Robin van Persie has claimed he was not offered a new contract by Arsenal before signing for Manchester United and took aim at former Gunners' chief Ivan Gazidis.

The Dutchman made the controversial switch from the Emirates to Old Trafford for £24million in 2012.

Despite Arsenal fans seeing his move as a betrayal, the striker insists he was not offered a new deal by the London side but regrets how he left the club.

He also took a swipe at Gazidis for the role he played in his exit.

'It was not only between me and Arsene Wenger, there was more happening with Ivan of course and the way he behaved and the way he handled the whole situation,' he told The High Performance Podcast.

'If I look back at that whole situation, I have to look at myself as well, where I could have done better or could have done something differently. That open letter I shouldn’t have done that.

'In such a delicate, difficult situation of making a transfer after spending so much time at Arsenal, to make a decision to write an open letter to tell my truth in two pages was impossible.

'And partly it was the fact that Arsenal did not offer me a new deal. So if I look back at that, I should have done that better.

'I can promise you on my kids, if someone comes with proof that Arsenal offered me a deal, I will give you a million [pounds] now, today.'

The forward also said he made suggestions about how the club should move forward but claimed it became apparent they have very different outlooks.

'It was Arsenal’s decision not to offer me a deal and that is up to them. After many conversations it became clear that we had different ideas about the club.

'I had seven points where I thought Arsenal could improve and in my opinion those seven points they should start dealing with them straight away to be able to compete with the best teams.

'It doesn’t really matter what points they are, what matters is that Ivan decided that he didn’t agree with one single point of those seven points – which is fair enough.

'So taking that information on board, Arsenal doesn’t offer me a deal, they didn’t agree with my views – which were only to help, and honest views of how the club should move forward – that is a very clear message.'

Van Persie had been a fan favourite at the Gunners with 132 goals in 278 games under Wenger.

But he turned into a villain upon signing for United where he went on to win the Premier League and Community Shield.