FORMER Arsenal player Andre Santos insisted he does not regret swapping shirts with Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie at half-time.
Brazilian Santos was slammed for exchanging shirts with his former Gunners teammate as they walked down the tunnel at the halfway stage in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in 2012.
Andre Santos swaps shirts with former teammate Robin Van Persie on their way down the tunnel at half-timeCredit: Mark Robinson – The Sun
Van Persie joined rivals United from Arsenal for £24million in August 2012 and in November he scored inside three minutes to give his side a 1-0 half-time lead before Santos took his shirt as a souvenir.
In an interview with UOL, Santos said: “I don’t regret it because I never stopped being his friend. My culture is different from the English culture. I’m not obliged to be in the same culture as them.”
At the time then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said although he was embarrassed by the incident it did not impact the result and put it down to cultural differences as South American players often swap shirts at half-time.
Wenger said: “He is completely in a different world when he does that.
“He understands today what it means and he will never do it again.
“But it’s interesting because Santos is a player who cares, he is serious and he wants to do well.”
Andre Santos appeared at Hendon Magistrates Court in 2012 after being caught speedingCredit: David New – The Sun
Santos apologised to fans in an exclusive interview with Sun Sport in 2012.
He said: “I’d like to apologise to supporters who felt aggrieved by it.
“Did I think it would cause such a commotion? Of course I didn’t, otherwise I would have told Robin to exchange the shirts away from the public view.
“It surprised me that people latched on to a gesture that promotes friendship and fair play.”
Santos’ performance on the pitch that day was more detrimental to Arsenal than his half-time antics as the left-back struggled to deal with United winger Antonio Valencia.
Just two months later he was sent out on loan to Gremio after Wenger signed Nacho Monreal on the last day of the January transfer window in 2013.
Santos left North London for good at the end of the season to return home to Brazil and join Flamengo after making just 33 appearances for the Gunners since arriving from Fenerbahce for £6.8million in August 2011.
Now he has insisted that he was happy at Arsenal but that he “saw no ambition to win”.
After taking Van Persie’s shirt while losing, Santos somewhat ironically said: “They lost and were laughing on the bus already.
“It looked like they were going to the office.
“When I’m in a club I want to lift the title, but I saw that Arsenal didn’t have that ambition.”
Santos made front page headlines while at Arsenal when he was caught speeding at 130mph in his £110,000 Maserati near the club’s London Colney training ground.
He was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £3,600.
Santos said: “I went to the police station, I lay there and wept, and wept, and wept.
“I spent £28,000 on a lawyer and was in danger of going to prison for three years.”
Santos won 24 caps for Brazil but will be remembered by Arsenal fans as another underwhelming signing who courted controversy on and off the pitch.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
