Robin van Persie

  Robin van Persie when he came onto 

Arsene Wenger's radar in 2004, but he has 

emerged into one of the best strikers in 

the world for club and country.

A young forward with Feyenoord, Van Persie 

had only been playing in the Eredivisie 

club's first-team for a couple of seasons 

before opting to move to London for a 

paltry £2.75 million. Wenger transformed 

him from a left-winger to a forward and 

the result was impressive.

Handed his international debut with 

Netherlands in the summer of 2005, by the 

time the 2006 World Cup came around, Van 

Persie had forced his way into the Dutch 

first team. Initially injuries plagued his 

time with Arsenal, though his disciplinary 

problems abated, and his breakthrough came 

the season after his decent showing at 

Euro 2008 when he was named the club's 

player of the season after scoring 20 

goals in 44 appearances.

But just as he was drawing comparisons 

with some of the best strikers in Europe 

after operating as the central striker in 

Arsenal's 4-3-3 formation, Van Persie 

suffered a serious injury in a friendly 

international against Italy in November 

2009 that ruled him out for five months. 

Battling back once more, he helped to lead 

Netherlands to the final of the 2010 World 

Cup and his form in 2011-12 as club 

captain was among the best in the world as 

he smashed 26 league goals. However, come 

the end of the season, RVP announced that 

he would not be signing a new contract 

with the club and wanted to move on.

A week ahead of the new season he agreed 

terms with Manchester United over a £20m 

move