Robin van Persie opens up on career low which helped inspire Premier League success

Robin van Persie has revealed that a confrontational game as a youngster helped him gets his move to the Premier League.

The Dutchman signed for Arsenal in 2004, but there were doubts over whether he had the mentality for the big occasion before they pursued the move.

Van Persie was playing in a youth game for Feyenoord against rivals Ajax with scouts present.

Things took a turn for the worse as fans assaulted him after the contest despite the Amsterdam outfit winning 3-1.

A then 20-year-old Van Persie scored his side's goal and he claims that the attritional nature of the occasions proved he had the appetite when things weren't going his way.

The Dutchman secured a move to Arsenal in 2004 (Getty Images)

“After the game, the fans came on the pitch and threw a couple of punches,” he told the UTD Podcast.

“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.’”

Robin van Persie won the 2013 Premier League title (Man Utd via Getty)

After a successful eight years at the Gunners Van Persie made the switch to Old Trafford in a £24m deal.

The Dutchman had only won the FA Cup during his time in north London but played a starring role in Sir Alex Ferguson's final Premier League triumph.

And Van Persie admits he was hugely impressed by the mentality that was instilled at United.

“The toughness of everyone, physically and mentally: I was impressed at the level," he continued.

“In training sessions they were tough on each other, but everyone was okay with it. They were just cracking on and dealing with injuries, setbacks and defeats.

“There was a calmness, in combination with the characters and staff we had. There was some kind of arrogance floating around everyone: we got this, whatever happens, we got it.”