5) Robin van Persie
Trending
After a number of injuries earlier in his career which gave him the moniker ‘World Class but made of Glass’, Robin van Persie has put all that behind him in recent years. In the past six seasons (2011/12 to 2016/17), the Dutch striker has averaged nearly 40 games a season at Arsenal, Manchester United and Fenerbahce.
With English clubs flush with money thanks to the astronomical television deals in place, his high wages would not be a problem anymore. The only factor they need consider is his age.
Van Persie will be 34 at the start of the 2017/18 season – hardly an age where one would give a player a lengthy contract. Which is why clubs could take a punt on giving him a one-year deal with an option to extend based on his form – just as Manchester United gave Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season.
Top clubs may pass on him but a mid-table club in England would be a better destination than plying his trade in relatively empty stadiums in Turkey. Being a World Cup year, he could make his case for one last hurrah should the Oranje qualify for the tournament in Russia next summer.
