Feyenoord manager Robin van Persie has admitted his disappointment at Antoni Milambo’s departure to Brentford.
[Soccer News cover comments](https://www.soccernews.nl/news/transferdrama-voor-robin-van-persie/) from him today after Milambo completed his move to Brentford this week after a transfer saga this summer.
Brentford had been closing in on a deal for the young midfielder for the best part of two months, with the deal going backwards and forwards after initial optimism.
Feyenoord had remained firm in negotiations with their Premier League counterparts, refusing to sell the midfielder as he remained a part of their long-term plans.
A deal was eventually done because Milambo reportedly made it clear that he wanted to move on. According to reports, he had told Feyenoord that he felt that he had achieved everything that he could with the Dutch club and wanted to move to England as a result.
That hasn’t gone down well in the Netherlands over the last few weeks, with journalists and fans alike pretty much agreed that Milambo is getting ahead of himself.
Van Persie doesn’t go that far but admits he was left disappointed to see the 20-year-old depart, as he and the club had laid out a good plan for him.
“I would have liked Antoni to stay here for another year, or even two years to develop himself before taking the next step, but he absolutely wanted to transfer to the Premier League now,” he said.
“I followed the entire process; I have an opinion about it too but now is not the right time to say everything about it. I think it is a shame that he is leaving, because he is a nice guy. I wish someone like that the very best and because he was already walking around here at Feyenoord as a little boy, I do not rule out that Milambo will return here one day.
“We made him a very good proposal in terms of sporting and financial matters. If a player makes a different choice, then you have to do something about it as a club and coach. We at Feyenoord can look at ourselves in the mirror.
“They should not want to be anywhere else. That no longer applied to Milambo. Then there is no other option than to cooperate on a transfer.”