Gunners now just a feeder club

For Arsenal fans, it was like being told a terminally ill patient had finally met their maker.

An inevitability, it seemed more a matter of when than if. There were vague hopes the player might at least serve out the remaining year of his contract, but financially, the club were never going to let an asset of van Persie’s value dwindle to nothing.

Three moments indicated the writing was on the wall: the lack of any announcement after the mid-May talks; the purchase of Olivier Giroud and Van Persie’s statement on his official website. The latter was as good as a transfer request, and many fans turned against the Arsenal skipper from that moment on.