Van Persie for PFA Player of the Year

It's hard to believe that Robin Van Persie is finally approaching his true potential in his eighth season at Arsenal. I guess it speaks volumes of the kind of player he's evolved into over the years while it extolls the virtues of being patient.

With much of his career at Arsenal blighted with injuries, there were many who suggested the Gunners would have been better off by cutting their losses with Van Persie and bringing in someone a lot less injury-prone. But Wenger kept the faith with his Dutch striker and today, Van Persie is arguably the most lethal striker in England.

Wenger's gamble couldn't have been easy. Two seasons ago, Van Persie only managed to amass 10 goals, his lowest tally since the 2007/08 season when he ended the campaign with nine goals (which marked the only time the Dutchman has failed to score double-digits in a season for the Gunners).

But with only 10 goals to his name in 2007/08, Van Persie followed up with a career high of 22 goals in all competitions the following season and the Gunners striker narrowly missed winning the Golden Boot. Nonetheless, it became clear that Van Persie had finally become the striker we always knew he was capable of being.

Still, none of that prepared the footballing world for Van Persie's performance in the current season where he's already scored an amazing 34 goals. His exploits this season has made him a favourite for the PFA Player of the Year award and there's no doubt that there's no player out there more deserving of the award than Van Persie.

Man City's David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Joe Hart have also been nominated. Of the three, I believe David Silva has the strongest case against Van Persie while Aguero has all the makings of a great player and is perhaps the better candidate for the PFA Young Player The Year award.

The other nominees for this season's PFA Player of the Year award is Tottenham's Scott Parker and Man Utd's Wayne Rooney. Of the two, I can't quite understand how Parker's made the list. Then again, I can't understand how Parker was made England captain.

As for Rooney, the England forward has had a typically-good season by his standards. In total, he's scored 31 goals already this season (although his league tally is at 24 which puts him three goals behind Van Persie's 27).

With a few games remaining, Rooney has a genuine chance to beat his all time best of 34 goals in a season and, perhaps, even pipping Van Persie to the Golden Boot. Having already won the PFA Player of the Year award in the 2009/10 season, Rooney certainly has a genuine case to win the award again this season.

I just hope Van Persie gets it.