Robin Van Persie’s shocked reaction to Man Utd crowd chanting his name at Old Trafford before Barcelona clash
ROBIN VAN PERSIE cracked a surprised smile as he reacted to Manchester United fans chanting his name at Old Trafford.
The former striker joined BT Sport as a pundit for the night as he cast his eye over the Red Devils’ second-leg Europa League clash against Barcelona.
He was joined by the likes of BT regulars Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves.
As the trio built-up to kick-off, United fans could be heard chanting the name of the Dutch forward, who played for the club between 2012 and 2015.
Once the singing reached his ears, van Persie broke out into a surprised smile and glanced towards the crowd.
Fans loved the warm moment.
One said: “Makes me happy, makes me smile.”
While another joked that Van Persie had “erased” his Arsenal career, with the star spending eight years at the Emirates before heading to United.
Despite his relatively short stay at Old Trafford, van Persie quickly became a fan favourite.
Sir Alex Ferguson raided rivals Arsenal for their top star late in the window as he looked to respond to the crushing, infamous title loss at the end of the 2011-12 season when Sergio Aguero struck.
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RvP’s immediately gave United a sharper edge and the club took the title back with ease as van Persie hit 26 goals.
With Ferguson retiring, van Persie could not quite match the same level over his next two seasons but did still reach double figures.
The star, now 39, visited United training yesterday before the game and was seen hugging old teammates like David de Gea.