Robin van Persie Makes Huge Decision Regarding Teenage Son Shaqueel

Shaqueel van Persie, the son of Feyenoord manager Robin van Persie, has reached another significant milestone in his professional career.

The 19-year-old forward, who was born during Robin's stint at Premier League side Arsenal, began his youth career with Manchester City before joining Feyenoord in the summer of 2017.

He signed his first professional contract with the Eredivisie club in May 2022 and has since represented the Netherlands national team at under-16 and under-17 level.

As well as being a must-sign wonderkid on recent editions of Football Manager (if you know, you know), the highly-rated teenager has flourished for Feyenoord at youth level.

In fact, after training with the first team on multiple occasions of late, Shaqueel scored on his unofficial Feyenoord debut after coming off the bench in a friendly against FC Dordrecht in October.

The teenager has continued to impress in recent weeks and on Sunday, he was included in Feyenoord's matchday squad for the first time ahead of their Eredivisie clash against NEC Nijmegen.

After handing his son a call-up to the first team squad, Robin van Persie touched on his relationship with Shaqueel during a pre-match interview with ESPN.

"I just treat him like a player. Shaqueel himself is very professional about that, right from the start," he said.

"When I coached him in the under-16s, he immediately said to me: 'Dad, listen, I'm not your son when we're at Varkenoord, I'm just one of your players.' I was glad he said that, because that's how I see it too."

Unfortunately for Van Persie, it was an afternoon to forget as Feyenoord suffered a 4-2 defeat against NEC Nijmegen. Shaqueel, meanwhile, was an unused substitute alongside fellow academy graduate Ayoub Ouarghi.

Robin van Persie once called his son a "loser" during a youth game

A few years ago, Shaqueel decided to complain about his coach after being named on the subs bench for a game involving Feyenoord's under-14 team.

He voiced his displeasure during a tense car journey with his father, Robin, who was far from impressed. In fact, he called Shaqueel a "loser" for blaming others before giving him some crucial words of advice.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Robin said: "I told him, 'Shaqueel, you sound like a loser when you talk like that. You sound like you lost. You blaming him, blaming her, blaming this, blaming everything, but I don’t hear one single about yourself.'

“‘Winners take control, they blame themselves and look where they can improve. This is what you should be thinking about. Ask yourself, are you a loser, or are you a winner? It doesn’t matter to me because I’m your dad. The only job I have, and your mum has, is to get you ready for life when you’re 20."

He added: “'You can make your mistakes, you can do whatever you want. I love you the same amount. It doesn’t matter to me whether you make it as a footballer or not but you say that this is your passion, so you have to take control of your life and stop complaining'.”