Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has been rewarded for an incredible start to his Manchester United career by being named December’s player of the month.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he “went the extra mile” to sign the Dutchman from Arsenal because he knew Van Persie would make the difference for this season.
While Man City manager Roberto Mancini has spent the campaign lamenting his failure to sign Van Persie, Ferguson has profited from his intuition.
After years of speaking about value and youth, Ferguson spent £24 million on a player edging towards 30, with only a year left on his contract and a dubious injury record. To an outsider, it seemed like a gamble. To Ferguson, it was anything but.
“It was a lot of money for a player in the last year of his contract,” said the Scot. “But the thing about it is – as it proved with Manchester City the year before when they paid £24million for Samir Nasri – you either want him or you don’t.
“You have to pay the price that the club are sticking out for, whether it is one year on his contract, two or three.