Robin van Persie had no doubts when naming the one club he regrets never playing for

Robin van Persie had no doubts when naming the one club he regretted not playing for during his career.

Netherlands striker Van Persie began his professional career with Feyenoord before moving to Arsenal at the age of 20 in 2004.

He spent eight years in north London before making the controversial decision to sign for Manchester United.

At Old Trafford, he won his only Premier League title and secured the Golden Boot award for the second consecutive season in 2013.

He scored 22 goals across the next two campaigns but began to be plagued by injury issues and left to join Turkish Super Lig club Fenerbahce in 2015.

Wayne Rooney declared this Robin van Persie goal as the best of all time in the Premier League pic.twitter.com/kTaOOC9GJI

— Former Footballers (@FinishedPlayers) June 19, 2025

A season-long spell at Feyenoord followed to end his career, with Van Persie fittingly smashing in 18 goals to help his side qualify for the 2019/20 Champions League.

Now a manager, Van Persie is in his third stint at the club, having been appointed as their head coach in February 2025.

In the future, he could have the opportunity to take charge in a league he never got the opportunity to play in.

And it is a regret that the now 42-year-old still holds.

Van Persie, who is managed by Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), appeared on the SEG STORIES YouTube channel last week alongside fellow clients Kevin Strootman and ex-United boss Erik ten Hag.

While speaking about his relationship with agent Kees Vos, Van Persie revealed that he always wanted to play for Barcelona - and almost had the opportunity to do so while he was playing for Fenerbahce in 2015.

He explained: "Our [process] was, I wanted to know everything.

"So Kees also brought the less good news, like, 'This club doesn't think you're any good'. Okay, I wanted to hear that so I could make a choice based on all that info.

"I always had a desire to play for Barcelona at some point. And then Kees brought the news that I probably wasn't going to anymore.

"I meant 'definitely not', but I said it a bit differently. I was really hoping for it to be somehow possible. That was really a dream of mine."

Vos added: "Had he waited a little bit longer at United instead of moving to Fener, he would have been a serious option, because he'd have moved from United.

"Then, you come in at Barcelona differently than when you've been at Fenerbahce."

In 2015, Barca were in the midst of a mini-transition, and were on the search for a backup striker to Luis Suarez.

They eventually signed Paco Alcacer from Valencia in the summer of 2016, with the Spain striker spending two seasons at Camp Nou before departing for Borussia Dortmund.