Robin van Persie was a surprise attendee at Manchester United’s Carrington training base on Wednesday amid the build-up to the Barcelona game.
Van Persie attended Erik ten Hag‘s press conference as well as the training session, and was greeted cheerfully by the players.
One player he spent one on one time with was fellow Dutch striker Wout Weghorst, who signed on loan for the club in January.
It could turn out to be a masterstroke. Weghorst has been struggling for goals with just one so far in 10 games. Van Persie’s advice and even simply his presence will have given him a lift.
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Weghorst message
Weghorst appeared very grateful for Van Persie’s visit. He put out a message on Instagram stories showing what the visit meant to him.
He wrote: “Absolute legend to me! Thanks Robin van Persie.”
Why Van Persie was at training
Robin van Persie was at Carrington at the personal invitation of manager Erik ten Hag, reports Manchester United’s club website.
This was officially in relation to Van Persie’s ongoing work for his UEFA coaching badges. But the exercise was clearly mutually beneficial.
The players were clearly delighted to have a surprise visit from a former player of Van Persie’s stature, at such a crucial moment in the season.
Van Persie scored 58 goals for Manchester United in 105 games, including 30 in the 2012/13 season in which he led the club to the Premier League title.
This is a figure no United player has surpassed since, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic coming closest with 28 goals in 2016/17.
Marcus Rashford is currently on course to surpass both players, with 24 goals already. Wout Weghorst meanwhile would be happy to just to improve on his figure of one.
Hopefully Van Persie’s words of advice will have helped to make a key difference.
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