Rooney backs Manchester United pursuit of Van Persie

Wayne Rooney has heaped praise on Arsenal's Robin van Persie as Manchester United aim to convince the forward to move to Old Trafford this summer.

The Dutchman revealed in July that he would not sign a new contract at the Emirates, citing a disagreement "in the way Arsenal should move forward" and speculation over his future has been rife ever since.

Although Van Persie missed the club's Asia tour, he flew out to Germany on Monday for a week-long training camp, suggesting a potential move is far from certain. Indeed, claims that the demands of his agent looked as if they would scupper the move to Manchester surfaced on Thursday.

Despite this, Rooney was happy to speak about a potential move for the Arsenal captain.
"Of course he's a player that I admire," Rooney told the Daily Mail.

"He's a fantastic player, he's been amazing for Arsenal over many years. Last season was probably his best season of all, he scored a lot of goals.

"If he does come here he would be a great addition to the squad."

Asked whether he could play alongside Van Persie, Rooney added: "I'd like to think so - but you'd have to ask the manager about that.

"There's a lot of forwards here already with myself, [Danny] Welbeck, Chicharito and [Dimitar] Berbatov, who's still here.

"So there's a lot of forwards fighting for a place."

Sir Alex confirmed on Wednesday that United had made an offer for Van Persie but revealed there had been no breakthrough with Arsenal.