Arsenal have one of the best teams in world football today.
The Gunners have challenged for the Premier League title in each of the last three seasons, but their squad has never been stronger than it is now.
Mikel Arteta has two elite players in every single position, but his starting XI, when everyone is fit, is fairly straightforward.
Arsenal fans wouldn’t swap most players for anyone, but Theo Walcott believes one of his old teammates would walk into this current Gunners side – Robin van Persie.
Theo Walcott thinks Robin van Persie would start for Arsenal under Mikel Arteta
Arsenal fans just do not like Van Persie.
The Dutchman turned his back on Arsene Wenger and the Gunners in the summer of 2012. The legendary Frenchman stuck by him during his injury issues, but that loyalty was not repaid.
Van Persie ruined his Arsenal legacy by joining Manchester United in a £24 million deal, and he immediately won the Premier League title there.
The former Gunners skipper will show that and tell everyone that he was right to move, but he is not a legend at United today. He could’ve been one at Arsenal had he stayed.
Walcott played a number of games with Van Persie at Arsenal back in the day, and he knows the Netherlands star’s qualities better than most others.
In a video on Amazon Prime Video Sport’s social channels, the Englishman was asked if some of his old teammates would get into the current Arsenal first-team as starters.
When Van Persie’s name was prompted, Walcott quickly said “yes”, suggesting that he would start over Viktor Gyokeres in Arteta’s side today.
What Mikel Arteta honestly thought about Robin van Persie as a striker
Van Persie was still at the club when Arteta joined Arsenal from Everton.
The two players spent one whole campaign together, and that was the Dutchman’s best-ever season in the famous red and white – he scored 37 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions that term.
Walcott saying that Van Persie would start at Arsenal today will not sit well with many fans, but what Arteta said about the striker in April last year suggests that the Englishman is right.
In a video on Goal, where he was asked to describe players using a few words, Arteta branded Van Persie as ‘the perfect nine’.
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