Fresh start: Robin van Persie poses with his No 20
shirt with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson
Signing on: Robin van Persie poses with Manchester
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson
Robin van Persie said he
had listened to 'the little boy inside him' when deciding to join
Manchester United.
The Dutch superstar will wear
the No 20 shirt after completing his £24million switch from
Arsenal.
He has signed a four-year
contract worth an incredible £250,000 per week - the same terms
handed to Wayne Rooney two years ago.
Speaking at his official
unveiling press conference, he said: 'In these situations, when you
have to make a hard decision in your life, I always listen to that
little boy inside me. What does he want? That boy was screaming for
Manchester United.
'Everyone knows me by now. I
love football. I am quite principled in that perspective. It is
always difficult to find the perfect match but I do feel this is
the perfect match for me.
'Manchester United breathes
football. If you look at all the players from Manchester United,
the stadium and manager, my choice was made very
soon.'
Earlier, he said: 'It’s an
honour to sign for Manchester United. I am looking forward to
following in the footsteps of so many great strikers, bringing my
experience and playing my part to help the team compete for the
biggest trophies in the game. I can’t wait to get
started.'
His new strike partner Rooney
posted on Twitter: '@Persie_Official welcome to manchester united
mate.'
Van Persie, who could now make
his debut at Everton on Monday night, arrived at Manchester
United's training ground on Friday morning to sign his new
£12million-a-year contract.
The 29-year-old was then taken
to United's training ground at 9am to meet his new team-mates and
sign the astonishing £250,000-a-week deal that will give him parity
at the club with Rooney.
Van Persie then trained with his
new club and is expected to go straight in to the team for the
season's opener at Everton on Monday.
Sir Alex Ferguson said: 'Robin
is a world-class striker with a proven record in England and in
European football.
'His talents need no
introduction to our fans – he has scored a number of goals against
us in some classic battles with his former club. His movement,
finishing and all-round ability are outstanding.
He later told MUTV: 'The boy
wanted to come. He turned down various clubs. If he hadn't told
Arsenal he wanted to go to Manchester United, the transfer wouldn't
have happened.'
Ferguson admitted he thought it
would be impossible to get Van Persie to sign, but had to make an
attempt when the striker did not sign a new contract with the north
London club.
Deadly: Van Persie was all smiles alongside Wayne
Rooney in Friday's training session
Changing times: Van Persie is paraded inside Old
Trafford after sealing his £24m switch
Delight: Van Persie was all smiles as he was shown off
ahead of his press conference at Old Trafford
'It has given everyone a
lift,' said Ferguson. 'I have a complication to my life
(selection). I don't know how I managed in
1999.
'They can gel together. Robin's
best position is furthest up the pitch. The most important thing is
to win what we want to win. These players can help us to do
that.'
At the press conference,
Ferguson added: 'We never thought we could get Van Persie. If you
go back six months ago, I couldn't see us getting
him.
'I thought Arsenal are not going
to let him go. When I read he had refused a new contract, that is
when we acted. It has been a long haul.'
Even so, it took a personal
intervention from Ferguson to get the deal moving last week after
it had apparently stalled permanently.
'I can't elaborate but it was
amicable,' said the Scot. 'Arsene knew the boy wanted to leave. He
knew he wanted to join us. That made it a bit easier but not in
terms of trying to reduce the fee.
'He (Wenger) could run a poker
school in Govan. He got a great price but we are also happy the
matter is concluded. From the starting position when we first
started negotiating, Arsene has done well.'
Ferguson revealed he was still
looking at a new signing for 'one more position' but 'only if a
certain player came available'.
Van Persie's old Arsenal
team-mate Cesc Fabregas tweeted: 'As a friend and team mate of mine
for the last 8 years i want to wish good luck to @Persie_Official
and his new adventure at Man United.'
An Arsenal statement read:
'Arsenal Football Club can confirm that Robin van Persie has now
completed a transfer to Manchester United after terms were agreed
between the clubs.
'This ends Robin’s eight-year
association with Arsenal, after joining the Gunners from Dutch side
Feyenoord in May 2004.
Pairing: Van Persie speaks at his Friday afternoon
press conference as he sits next to Ferguson
Putting it all on red: Van Persie and Ferguson smile
for the cameras at Old Trafford
'During his time with
Arsenal, Van Persie made a total of 278 appearances for the Club,
scoring 132 goals, including 37 from his 48 appearances last
season.
'His fantastic performances
during the 2011/12 campaign resulted in the PFA (Professional
Footballers’ Association) and FWA (Football Writers’ Association)
Player of the Year awards, together with the Premier League Golden
Boot.
'Van Persie also became a
regular in the Netherlands national team during his time with
Arsenal, making 68 appearances to date.
'Everyone at Arsenal would like
to thank Robin for his contribution during his time with the
club.'
United fought off competition
from Manchester City and Juventus to bring the Dutch striker to Old
Trafford and hope he will be able to feature against Everton on
Monday.
On Thursday, Ferguson claimed
United will possess arguably Europe's most fearsome strike force
when van Persie arrives.
Ferguson has spoken about the
new-look attacking options of Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny
Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, and the comparisons with the 1999 set
of Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer.
Watching on: David Gill, agent Kees Vos and Van
Persie's wife Bouchra at the press conference
Ferguson said: 'They
(Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie) are two fantastic players and
it will be great to have both of them. It gives us more strength
and more combinations up front.
'In 1999 I had Dwight Yorke,
Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the four best
strikers in Europe.
'We are going towards that now
with Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney, Robin, Danny Welbeck and
Shinji Kagawa.
It is a fantastic collection of
players and hopefully I pick the right combinations It is great to
have a player of Robin van Persie's qualities to come into the
squad. I am very pleased.'
