Top 10 Manchester United signings of the decade

2. Robin van Persie

Sir Alex Ferguson managed many impossible feats during his tenure as a Manchester United manager, but one of his greatest coups was convincing Arsene Wenger to sell Robin van Persie to United in August 2012, for a meagre fee of £24m. At that time, the Dutchman was coming off another brilliant season with Arsenal, where he scored 37 goals from 48 appearances. He was the reigning Premier League Golden Boot winner and had won the PFA Player’s Player of the Year as well as the FWA Footballer of the Year awards. No one will ever know how Sir Alex managed to do it, but van Persie was a United player before the start of the new season and the rest, as they say, is history.

The new Manchester United No. 20 powered his team to their 20th league title, instilling fear in the hearts of defenses around the league. He boded very well to United’s never-say-die spirit and lit up Old Trafford with his accuracy and precision in front of goal. His left foot was just exceptional and the Dutchman was a finisher par excellence - who can forget that first-time volley against Aston Villa? Van Persie went on to score 30 times that season, including 26 times in the league and reclaimed his Premier League Golden Boot.

Following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, the Dutchman endured a lean phase and ultimately left United in the summer of 2015. His goals and his celebrations, though, are forever etched in the hearts of United fans.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

Know More

Edited by Sai Teja