Robin Van Persie Suggests He'll Retire at the End of the Season
Former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has hinted that the current season could be his last as a professional footballer as he begins to consider retirement.
Van Persie rejoined boyhood club Feyenoord in January and helped the team to KNVB Cup success a few months later. He has enjoyed a fine start to the new Eredivisie campaign, scoring six times in nine games so far, but is now very much in the twilight of his illustrious career.
"When will I have to stop? That is normally at the end of this season. That was also the approach," he is quoted as saying by AD this week, suggesting a 2019 retirement was planned when he signed his 18-month contract in Rotterdam at the start of the calendar year.
"I will be 36 years [in August], then I have been a professional for 18 years. And from the age of five, I've only been involved in football," he added.
Van Persie says that returning to Feyenoord has brought enjoyment back to football for him following a difficult final few months of his spell at Fenerbahce.
"If you look at the whole picture. I had lost the fun. That's not how I wanted to end [my career], without pleasure. That pleasure has returned at Feyenoord," he added.
"I want to win as a football player. The [KNVB] cup win was nice, but not the measure of being successful or not. I wanted to give something back, share my experiences.
"I try to help my fellow players. Whether or not we win another trophy is not decisive for me as to whether my return has been a success."
A teenage Van Persie left Feyenoord for Arsenal in 2004. He spent eight seasons with the Gunners, wining the Premier League Golden Boot in 2012, before making the controversial switch to Manchester United and playing a key role as the club won the Premier League title.
But as one Van Persie career winds down, another is just beginning as his 11-year-old son, Shaqueel, is part of the Feyenoord youth team after previously learning his trade in the academy ranks at Fenerbahce and, perhaps surprisingly, Manchester City.
