Arsène Wenger was right. In some ways Robin van Persie will always be an Arsenal man. He arrived at the club from Feyenoord in 2004 in the shadow of the club's new record signing José Antonio Reyes, who joined from Sevilla in the same transfer window. By the time Reyes had navigated his way back to Sevilla, after spells with Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Benfica, Van Persie had emerged as the club's captain, leader and talisman.

He left Arsenal to win trophies, but even as he stood on the big Barclays podium beside his new mentor Sir Alex Ferguson and lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time, it was difficult not to see his newfound success through the prism of his time at Arsenal under Wenger. As he hoisted the trophy into the air, his shoulders seemed to shrug off those years of frustration and disappointment. He was a Manchester United player, but even his success was a reflection of his time at Arsenal.

It was refreshing to see Van Persie knee-sliding along the Old Trafford turf on Sunday, celebrating his goal like a young Marty McFly banging out the blues of Johnny B Goode in Back to the Future. Van Persie will never lose his connection with Arsenal, but he plays for Manchester United now and should enjoy life with his new club.

Not celebrating against former clubs has become something of a trend in football, with some players looking bashfully apologetic if they score against old team-mates, or a team they spent some time on loan with – or a club from a city where they once enjoyed a memorable weekend away. Should players not just lighten up a bit and enjoy themselves if they score a goal? That's probably why they starting playing the game in the first place.

Van Persie had every right to enjoy his moment. He has new team-mates, a new manager and new supporters now – and he had just brought 76,000 of them together in a moment of relief and joy.

His knee-sliding, team-bonding, pile-oning, come-onnnnning celebration didn't denigrate his time at Arsenal. It just expressed the delight of a player who had scored a big goal in a big game. Van Persie will always be something of an Arsenal man, but shouldn't he be free to enjoy his Manchester United career without having to tiptoe around the sensitivities of his old fans?