Robin van Persie isn't the most popular figure in the world when it comes to Arsenal fans.

There are plenty of Gunners supporters who still hold a grudge over the Dutchman leaving for Manchester United in 2012, proceeding to win the Premier League title at Old Trafford.

By all accounts, Van Persie was the best player in the competition at the time, fresh from having won the Golden Boot and PFA Player of the Year award in north London.

Arsenal to Man Utd

And therefore, it was a huge kick in the unmentionables for Arsenal to see their star player crossing the Premier League battle-lines to one of their rivals because of a failure to challenge for the title.

Van Persie's only trophy for the Gunners had come during his debut season, the long-lost FA Cup triumph of 2004/05 that marked the beginning of a silverware drought that would span nine years.

In the end, Van Persie spent three seasons at the 'Theatre of Dreams', producing a glorious 2012/13 campaign that harvested another Golden Boot before waning after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.

Why he left Arsenal

But even as the Dutchman started to plateau under David Moyes' tenure, there was still a moment of pure passion against Arsenal when he scored a Premier League winner in 2013.

'RVP' proceeded to celebrate wildly in a way he'd avoided the previous season, further fanning the flames of contempt from Arsenal fans that has only started to dissipate in recent years.

And now that the dust has settled somewhat, the situation has cleared a little and Van Persie has been able to speak candidly about the events of 2012 in his new position as a television pundit.

The 37-year-old has openly admitted that a lack of ambition from the Arsenal chiefs saw him turn elsewhere to fulfill the silverware ambitions that the prolific form of his pomp certainly warranted.

Van Persie's honest interview

However, we're not sure that Van Persie has spelled out the situation quite as damningly as he did during an appearance on the official YouTube channel of Dutch presenter Kaj Gorgels this week.

Per a translation from the Mirror, Van Persie reflected on his final days at the Emirates by saying: "At Arsenal, I didn’t feel like we were on the level to compete.

"One day, the chairman of Arsenal showed me how healthy the club was by showing me their positive numbers.

"I told him: 'I don’t give a s*** about these numbers, I want to lift the Premier League trophy.'"

Wow. Credit to Van Persie for being so open about what happened and sadly for Arsenal fans, it merely confirms their suspicions of the club's rapacious approach in Arsene Wenger's final years.

Possible Juventus move

And it also seems as though Arsenal scuppered the chance to secure a European move for Van Persie as opposed to accomodating a cross-Premier League switch that remains so infamous.

"We felt it would be best to leave for a club outside of England, the deal with Juventus was closed," Van Persie added.

"But the chairman of Arsenal was stubborn towards Juventus. I told him that my other two other options were Manchester United or Manchester City, so it’s his own risk.

"My departure from Arsenal to Manchester United is still a sensitive topic in England. But I wanted to win, I just wanted to win. And I had to take a risk for that."

The rest, as they say, is history with Van Persie going on to win the trophies he so badly desired and clearly hacking off millions of Arsenal fans was a price he was willing to pay.