Van Persie was an a******* – Van Hooijdonk

Former Netherlands international Pierre van Hooijdonk thought Robin van Persie was an “a*******” following his response to criticisms during World Cup 2014.

The ex-Nottingham Forest and Celtic forward suggested Van Persie should be dropped by Netherlands during the tournament in Brazil, before later claiming Manchester United were attempting to force him out of the club.

Following Netherlands’ third-place play-off clash with the hosts, the striker reacted to those comments by telling his former Feyenoord team-mate to stop “creating problems” and “stick to playing golf”.

The 45-year-old has revealed he was not impressed by Van Persie’s response and feels the ongoing feud says a lot about his character.

“Obviously he has more problems with me than I with him,” he said on the television show Derksen &.

“I may have been too soft on him, so people could not say I wanted to take revenge on him when I reacted back then.

“I don’t know what his problem is. This says more about him than about me, but I did think for a second: you a*******.”

Van Persie signed for Fenerbahce ahead of the 2015-16 season but has struggled to cement a place in the first team.