How van Persie proved he was ready for English football
“It shouldn’t have happened, but it did and in a way it did me a huge favour because there were some doubts about my mental stability.
“The scouts of Arsenal were having second thoughts about how I would behave in extreme games. That was an extreme game, where people threw beer over me, they were spitting at me, it was very negative.
“But I stayed calm, I scored my goal.
“That was the final check for the chief scout of Arsenal, Steve Rowley. He was convinced: ‘Okay, he’s strong enough, he’s ready to start his journey at Arsenal.’”
