Simply the best player in the Barclays Premier League at the moment, van Persie seems to have been in the form of a lifetime for what feels like, well, a lifetime.
Following a Golden Boot winning 30-goal haul for Arsenal last season, the Dutchman’s already put away 16 goals, firing Manchester United seven points clear at the top of the table and managing to make the £24million price tag look an absolute snip in the process.
His performances need little in the way of added hyperbole and it feels difficult to remember a time when rival managers have been so firm in their agreement of the difference that one man can potentially make to the title race, as both Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini have quipped in recent weeks.
