Robin van Persie resembles Dutch striking legend Marco van Basten, according to Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.
Van Basten was perhaps the greatest all-round forward the modern game has seen. He led his country to success in Euro 88 and AC Milan to a clutch of honours two decades ago.
Van Persie is hardly a carbon copy but, Wenger argues, the 26-year-old has strong technical similarities.
He told www.arsenal.com: "I think he's a van Basten type - he's a technical centre-forward.
"He has that classy first touch, sharp movement and a short back-lift.
"I always thought he was more a first striker than second striker and I must say I love him there because he has a brain.
"He can play others in and he can score. His movement is intelligent around the box and if we score a lot of goals a big part is down to him."
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Van Basten was perhaps the greatest all-round forward the modern game has seen. He led his country to success in Euro 88 and AC Milan to a clutch of honours two decades ago.
Van Persie is hardly a carbon copy but, Wenger argues, the 26-year-old has strong technical similarities.
He told www.arsenal.com: "I think he's a van Basten type - he's a technical centre-forward.
"He has that classy first touch, sharp movement and a short back-lift.
"I always thought he was more a first striker than second striker and I must say I love him there because he has a brain.
"He can play others in and he can score. His movement is intelligent around the box and if we score a lot of goals a big part is down to him."
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Related links:
Team
Personal
Also see: