Arsenal v Manchester United: Robin van Persie goes from kid in the 'cage' to star at Theatre of Dreams That was underlined on Monday with a hat-trick that not only clinched the Premier League title but also represented the wider fulfilment of an extraordinary talent. "I had to wait so long," said Van Persie. Van Persie is now 29 and his only previous winners" medals - a Uefa Cup with Feyenoord in 2002 and an FA Cup with Arsenal in 2005 - must seem like a very long time ago. This, after all, is a player who was feted in Holland from the age of 13 as the natural heir to Johan Cruyff. As he now prepares to return to Arsenal for the first time as a Manchester United player, the wider question is how Van Persie has been transformed over these past two years from underachieving Premier League striker to arguably the best in the world. Any appreciation of Van Persie today must inevitably begin in Kralingen, a diverse district in east Rotterdam where he spent his childhood. His parents, Bob van Persie and Josee Ras, are both artists and their creativity has clearly rubbed off. "When I look at a football pitch I suppose, yes, I see it as my canvas," says Van Persie. I think I am artistic in sport. I think I'm always looking for the ultimate, the maximum. Bob actually designed a piece of artwork entitled "Arsenal people" made of official club magazines that was hung outside the directors" box at the Emirates. The picture has remained in place even after Van Persie's departure and Bob is now preparing for a further exhibition of his work at a Manchester gallery in September. Van Persie continued to live with his father after his parents separated when he was five, by which time he was already well on the path to stardom. There is much new research on the formative years of sporting champions and there is growing evidence that the supposed idea of "born genius" is vastly overrated when set against the quality and quantity of early practice. Proponents of this argument would feel vindicated by the remarkable story of Van Persie who, from the age of four, was spending all his spare hours in what is known locally in Rotterdam as "the cage." It is a concrete area surrounded by fencing which, by happy coincidence, was just five minutes from where Van Persie lived. The practice might not have been structured in any conventional way but it was where Van Persie's deadly left foot was honed. Marco van Lochem is the head of youth at SBV Excelsior, Van Persie's first club, and immediately thought back to "the cage" when he saw Monday's volley against Villa. "He was also doing some goals like that here," said Van Lochem. "Some coaches will say to young players "don't do this, don't do that." Our outlook is to give young players time with the ball to develop and express themselves. That street football background is still fundamental to understanding the player Van Persie has become. He still talks of getting as much enjoyment from a clever assist as a goal, and he continues to play with the same raw freedom and enjoyment as when he was little more than a toddler. "From the first time I saw him, I knew this would be a Superman," says Rene Hessel, who coached Van Persie from nine to 12. A move to Feyenoord became inevitable but his development was to stall unexpectedly. He came to Arsenal with the reputation for being difficult to manage but, in eight years under Wenger, the main impediment to his progress was physical. Overcoming some inner demons and latterly injuries has been absolutely critical in the flourishing of Van Persie. The match at Arsenal tomorrow will be Van Persie's 83rd consecutive Premier League game since December 2010. Before that, it took fully two years more to play the same number of games. Wenger is convinced that Van Persie would have been considered in the same elite bracket as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo much earlier in his career were it not for injuries. The question, then, is what explains this change. Van Persie and Wenger believe that it has been mostly luck, pointing out that around 80 per cent of his previous injuries were not muscular but simply caused by collisions. What is interesting, however, is that those impact injuries have largely stopped since Van Persie has played further forward. "He is more patient," says Wenger. Before he always came back in midfield but now he stays there [further forward] and uses his killer instinct much better. Van Persie says that he has been playing twice a week "with ease" this season and also believes that he can continue well into his thirties. "I think I'll go until very very late," he says. There is also the theory that his injuries have subsided as his off-field habits have improved. Stability at home is provided by wife Bouchra and their young children Shaqueel and Dina. Those who know Van Persie repeatedly describe him as "typically Dutch" in his forthright manner but also increasingly mature and less impulsive. Wenger particularly highlights his capacity for self-analysis. In much the same way as Sir Dave Brailsford, the inspiration behind British cycling, Van Persie has become obsessive about those marginal gains. Every day I work on new things. I become alert to small details that make me better," he says. A former Arsenal colleague added: "He is a student of football. He would know everything about his opponents, everything about football around the world and everything about his own statistics. He knew if he had a bad game and was very competitive. That was evident even in the table tennis competitions at the club. Van Persie was the best at Arsenal and it was arranged for him to play a match with Darius Knight, a British international. The gap in standard was vast but, when they met, Van Persie still wanted Knight to play full out against him and had no qualms about being shown up in the pursuit of learning more. Speak to Van Persie about football and he will sit for hours pontificating about the merits of certain players and teams. His eyes light up at the mention of players like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp or Cesc Fabregas. His description in a Sky Sports interview earlier this year of the current Arsenal squad as "nice, good boys" felt somehow telling. In that context, it is easy to understand how something perhaps died inside him as, one by one, so many great players left Arsenal. It also explains why "the little boy inside of him" wanted to be surrounded by what he calls "champions" at United. Van Persie has particularly thrived under Ferguson's assistant, the Dutchman Rene Meulensteen. He immediately found his way in the group. No arrogance, nothing. Perfect," said Meulensteen. There is a coach hiding inside him. Meulensteen and Ferguson consulted Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes before signing Van Persie to assess their view of how it would go down in the dressing room. Similarly, Van Persie spent an hour on the phone with Edwin van der Sar, quizzing him about everything United. No one could be certain that it would work so well. Other very good players have shrunk under the Old Trafford glare but, rather like Eric Cantona, it seems to have brought out even more in Van Persie. His confidence was immediately evident by his choice of shirt number 20 for the specific reason that United were going for their 20th league title. Such self-assurance has been infectious. "It was time for Manchester United to have a big-name player," says Meulensteen. That creates a security for players. They feel nothing bad can happen to them because we have got Robin van Persie. Robin gives the team an invincible feeling. Even United insiders have been surprised by his impact, especially in the big games. Ferguson says he cannot think of a player who has had such an influence. Gary Neville, who played alongside Cantona and is now a pundit for Sky Sports, points towards the striker's contributions at the season-defining moments. "The test for Robin van Persie was, could he come to Manchester United and reproduce this form," says Neville. Great players score goals when you need them. You get bullies who score goals in games you might win 6-0. He has scored massive goals to win big games. He has been involved in the big moments when it is tough, when you are behind. To score a hat-trick to win your team the championship in your first season is a dream. Van Persie says he goes into work whistling and, as he talks about the likes of Giggs and Scholes, he sounds again like that awestruck kid who repeatedly pushed himself against the older children back in the Rotterdam cage. "Giggs and Scholes are even better than I expected," says Van Persie. When I first came to Arsenal, I saw things from Bergkamp, from Thierry Henry which I had never seen in my life before. Now I'm seeing them again. It makes me happy. It is like a kid in a sweet shop. I had a great feeling to go for a big challenge last summer. This was the biggest challenge so far. Every day just tells me I made the right move.