Born on August 6 1983, Little was known about
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.

ebamma: Born on August 6 1983, Little was known about
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.

I wish I liked football