Robin van Persie Football Profile

21 March 2013 11:53

Robin van Persie is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United and the Dutch national team. Having joined Arsenal in 2004, Van Persie became the club captain on 16th August 2011, one year before he joined arch-rivals Manchester United.

Van Persie joined Dutch side SBV Excelsior's youth squad at the age of 14 years, but left at the age of 15, due to the relationship with the coach and his mother, and thus signed for Feyenoord.[16] He was quickly promoted into the first team due to injury problems among the squad, and made his debut for the club at 17, which was the first of 15 total starts.

On 17 May 2004, Van Persie signed a four-year deal with Arsenal for £2.75 million, just over half of Feyenoord's original asking price of £5 million. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who planned to convert Van Persie from a left winger to a centre forward.

Having been appointed vice-captain for the 2010–11 season, Van Persie was promoted to club captain following the transfer of Cesc Fàbregas to FC Barcelona at the start of the 2011–12 season.

On 4 July 2012 however, Van Persie announced that he would not be signing a new contract with Arsenal

On 15 August 2012, Arsenal announced they had agreed terms with Manchester United for his transfer, but Van Persie had yet to agree personal terms with the club. On 17th August, Van Persie transferred to Manchester United for an initial £22.5 million, with an additional £1.5 million to follow if United won a Premier League or Champions League title within the next four years.

Van Persie was a Dutch youth international, having represented the Netherlands under-17, under-19 and under-21 sides. He made his senior international debut in 2005 in a friendly match against Romania. One month later, he netted his first senior international goal in a 4–0 win over Finland. Van Persie has over 70 caps so far and has scored more than 30 goals for the Netherlands.

Source: DSG