Edwin Van der Sar has revealed that Robin van Persie rang him up to ask him advice on who to choose between United, City and Juventus. Having played for two of the three clubs, Van der Sar was in a good position to give his verdict, but it was clear that our former keeper only wanted him to join one club.

“He called me up and said other clubs were in for him, but because I played for two of them, United and Juventus, he wanted to hear my thoughts about them,” he said. “So we spoke for five minutes about Juventus and 55 minutes about United. He wanted to know how good United were, what he would find there, how the players are, what Ferguson is like, how they train, how the system works. He has shown his quality already. I read a statement from Ryan Giggs saying that United have signed good players and good talent before, but this one [Van Persie] has everything. He has the whole package already, but that doesn’t always mean it will work of course. Look at Fernando Torres at Chelsea. His first year was difficult, but I think the signs with Robin are good, though.”