LONDON: Robin
van Persie's decision to
join United instead
of Manchester
City is
proving the difference in the race to the
Premier League title,
according to City manager Roberto
Mancini.
The Dutch striker joined United from Arsenal for a reported 94
million pounds ($159 million) last August and his 14 goals in 20
league games have helped Alex Ferguson's team
open a
seven-point Premier League lead over
defending champions City.
"At the moment, he is the difference between us," Mancini told
local media. "He has scored 14 Premier League goals and it is clear
he has changed their situation.
"We were very close three or four months before he joined United.
We were sure he was for us but it didn't happen.
"We wanted Van Persie because we knew he was totally different from
our other strikers. We wanted to improve our team, particularly
for the
Champions League.
We were very close to signing him, I know what the reason was (why
he opted for United) but I won't say. It was not about
money."
When Van Persie, 29, joined United in the close season he said he
had "listened to the little boy inside me".
"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,"
he said.
With Van Persie forming a deadly partnership
with Wayne
Rooney,
United have scored 50 goals in their first 20 games - 12 more than
City, who are the league's top scorers last season having racked up
56 goals in their first 20 games.
Sergio Aguero has been in superb form
for most of the season but Carlos Tevez
and Mario
Balotelli have
been off-beam and Edin Dzeko has been forced to operated much of
the time from the bench.
"I am happy with my strikers because last season they scored more
than anyone else in the Premier League," Mancini
said.
"But when you can improve your team with other top players it is
important to do it. With Van Persie you can sometimes play three
strikers."
City, who won 4-3 at Norwich on Saturday despite having Samir Nasri
sent off, host Stoke City on Tuesday while United make the short
trip to Wigan Athletic where they lost last April - their only
defeat in 16 meetings.