#2 Robin Van Persie
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Five years after selling their original bargain striker Nicolas Anelka, Arsene Wenger played another incredibly shrewd hand when he bought Robin van Persie to Arsenal from Feyenoord for just £2.75m. He’d shown flashes of brilliance at Feyenoord, but a rift with coach Bert van Marwijk forced him towards the door amidst accusations of an attitude problem.
It took him some time to take off at Arsenal – he only scored five league goals in his debut season and ended it embroiled in controversy following a charge of rape which he was eventually cleared of. His next few seasons were hampered by injuries although his goal record did improve.
By 2008/09 he’d, however, developed into the Gunner’s talisman. That season saw him score 20 goals in all competitions, including a run in January 2009 that saw him score or be involved in every single one of Arsenal’s goals.
From that season onwards he was arguably the Premier League’s best and most consistent striker, building up to a ridiculous goal return in 2011/12 of 30 Premier League goals in 38 appearances. Surprisingly it turned out to be his final season as an Arsenal player, as he moved to rivals Manchester United for £24m in the summer of 2012 – almost ten times the fee that Arsenal had originally paid for him.
More goals followed as Van Persie scored 26 league goals in 38 appearances to basically single-handedly win the league for United, but it’s his 132 goals in 277 appearances for Arsenal – almost a goal every other game – that makes him one of the all-time great bargains.
