59 goals in two seasons. 48 of them in the toughest league of them all. Some tap-ins, some unmarked headers, some opportunistic ones and some outrageously brilliant ones. And while all these goals were being scored, I dare say, he was carrying the ambitions of a huge club on his broad shoulders. For a good 18 months, he could do no wrong. Join all these dots together, and you get an extremely classy player who goes by the name of Robin Van Persie. Surely, any team would want him right now.
Now that Manchester United are very close to landing him, let me tell you exactly why they could very well do without him.
Let’s do a little rewind. Community Shield, 2011. Manchester United vs Manchester City. City lead 2-0 at half time. The second half starts and there is a marked change in the United game. Their two frontmen, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck start exchanging passes and flicks as if this is a training session. By the time Welbeck is substituted in the 89th minute, it’s 2-2. Nani would latch on to a Kompany mistake and score the winner for United in the 94th minute. The season started in a week. West Brom were beaten 2-1. Tottenham were thrashed 3-0. Arsenal were murdered 8-2. Welbeck pulled a hamstring halfway into the Arsenal game, and was ruled out for a month. He came back and shone again. All through the injury-ravaged season, there was one sparkling feature that kept United going : the combination play between Rooney and Welbeck. United’s talisman seemed to loving the company of the 21-year old youth product upfront.
