Why Did Robin Van Persie Visit Barcelona’s Team Hotel After Wigan Defeat?

Interesting story coming from the Daily Mail today as they claim that Arsenal striker Robin van Persie made a late visit to the Barcelona team hotel on Monday night following the 2-1 defeat to Wigan.

The Mail report that van Persie headed straight to the Marriott hotel on Park Lane after our shock 2-1 defeat at the Emirates, and met up with members of the Barca team who are staying at the Marriott ahead of their Champions League semi final with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Of course nobody can know for certain why RVP went to the hotel that Barcelona were staying in, but the Mail claim he met up with his fellow countryman Ibrahim Afellay, and suggest he is also likely to have seen Cesc Fabregas as well.

They then go on to make the rather obvious hint that Van P was there as part of some sort of covert operation to lure him to the Nou Camp in the summer, but that’s highly unlikely. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Barca official tried to buy him a drink at the bar and have a quick ‘chat’ about life in Catalonia, but from RVP’s point-of-view i feel the visit was entirely innocent and he was simply taking the opportunity to catch up with some friends.

Although it probably wasn’t the best idea to head straight to Barcelona’s team hotel on the night we suffer a humiliating home defeat at the hands of relegation strugglers, especially given the uncertainty over his future. He simply gave the media a story by doing this. Maybe next time he should arrange to meet his mates at a restaurant away from the team hotel.