Why has van Persie been at Carrington?
Legendary Manchester United striker Robin van Persie is back at Carrington this week, at the invitation of Reds manager, and fellow Dutchman, Erik ten Hag.
Van Persie retired from playing three years ago and, since 2020, he has been working as a coach at Feyenoord, the club where he began and ended an illustrious 18-year playing career.
The man who would go on to be the Netherlands’ all-time leading goalscorer made his name in English football with Arsenal, where he played for eight seasons before sensationally joining rivals United in the summer of 2012.
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The lethal forward powered the Reds to our most recent Premier League title in his debut campaign, scoring 26 league goals in 38 games, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa which sealed that success on a memorable night at Old Trafford.
He left United for Fenerbahce in 2015 but the club is always keen to help its former players out and van Persie is benefiting from spending time with Ten Hag and his squad, as he studies for his coaching badges, with a view to working more in this field in the future.
Robin has been gaining experience with, and learning from, our coaching staff, including first-team coach Benni McCarthy, another former Premier League goalgetter, whom he is pictured with below.
Our former no.20 also posed for a photograph with young, exciting attackers Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Pellistri, as the squad returns to Carrington following the week-long winter camp in Andalusia.
Pellistri is back with United following Uruguay’s World Cup group-stage exit, as is Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Nine further Reds were knocked out of the tournament in Qatar during last weekend’s quarter-finals and are expected to be back at Carrington in due course.
Defensive pair Lisandro Martinez (Argentina) and Raphael Varane (France) are still involved, as they prepare for semi-finals against Croatia and Morocco on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.