We'll be deadliest in Europe with Van Persie, says Fergie ahead of £24m deal
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed Manchester United will possess arguably Europe's most fearsome strikeforce when Robin van Persie arrives.
Van Persie arrived at London St Pancras train station on Thursday morning before setting off to Manchester to complete his medical.
He should be ready to make his Manchester United debut at Everton on Monday.
Ferguson has spoken about the new-look attacking options of Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, and the comparisons with the 1999 set of Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Speaking at a press conference, Ferguson said: 'They (Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie) are two fantastic players and it will be great to have both of them. It gives us more strength and more combinations up front.
'In 1999 I had Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the four best strikers in Europe.
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Between them last season, Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney scored 57 league goals and created 13 more for their teammates. They were first and second respectively in the Barclays Premier League top scorers' chart, playing at the peak of their powers.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United fans everywhere will be forgiven a wry smile this morning at the prospect of the two most devastating strikers in English football lining up for their club.
They will believe that City's short dynasty of success is already drawing to a close, the title a foregone conclusion.
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What if they are a perfect match? What if they are the new Yorke and Cole of the Treble season, what if they work instinctively together like Rooney did with Ronaldo in winning the Champions League in 2008?
Presumably United will sweep all in front of them with an avalanche of goals, galloping away with trophies at home and abroad. It's a scary thought for the rest if it does work.
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Ferguson will have thought long and hard about how well the pair will dovetail. To pursue Van Persie with such vigour all summer, to personally intervene to try and smooth the ground with Arsene Wenger and to sanction a £24m transfer fee for a player approaching 30 suggests he believes they will work spectacularly well together.
What this says about his faith in Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez to provide the goals to wrest the title back from City, having regularly and publicly expressed his pride in their development, is an interesting sub-plot. The new super subs, perhaps? It will almost certainly mean the end for Dimitar Berbatov, now fifth choice striker.
A glance at the statistical comparison between Rooney and Van Persie shows eerie similarities. In 2011-2012, they had an identical shot accuracy percentage of 58 and there are only tiny fractions between their minutes per shot and chance conversion numbers.
This is not to say they are identical. Van Persie is ruthlessly clinical inside the penalty area (93 per cent of his league goals came from 18 yards or less last season), Rooney is renowned for spectaculars from outside. Van Persie is strong with both feet, Rooney is effective in the air. Van Persie offers a threat from set-pieces, Rooney is a recognised penalty taker. But this does not automatically mean they will complement each other – how will they be accommodated in Ferguson's system?
Rooney's partnership with Ronaldo worked because he was made to curb his own attacking instincts to rampage around in a deeper position, allowing the Portuguese to provide the goals. But things have moved on – Rooney is now centre stage and he's unlikely to give this up lightly.
Rooney didn't gel with another Dutchman, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, during his early career at Old Trafford and his link-ups with Berbatov, Hernandez and Welbeck have come nowhere near the almost-telepathic understanding of other United strike partnerships from the past.
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Given the nature of the two players' games and the positions they score from, surely Rooney will now have to cede his position at the focal point of the attack and play behind Van Persie?
Though undoubtedly as brilliant as creating chances as converting them, Rooney may not take too kindly to being shifted around again.
Deprived of a full pre-season to gel together, it could be difficult for Van Persie and Rooney to find that magic instantly.
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