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Former Manchester United striker Robin van Persie was given a warm reception by the current squad as the Dutchman visited the club’s Carrington training base prior to their Europa League clash with Barcelona.
The Red Devils shared a video of Van Persie being greeted by the squad, captioned ‘Great to see you again’.
Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia were among the stars to embrace the former United striker, with the latter having joined the club in the summer from Feyenoord, where Van Persie works as an assistant coach.
Van Persie also spoke with fellow Dutchman Wout Weghorst and former team-mate David de Gea.
The visit came ahead of the club’s Europa League play-off second leg against Barcelona on Thursday, which is delicately poised after the 2-2 draw at Camp Nou last week.
Van Persie attended training and manager Erik ten Hag’s pre-match press conference before conducting an interview with the United boss for BT Sport.
The interview is expected to be shown in the build-up to the second leg on Thursday.
Van Persie had also been welcomed back by the club in December to work with the United manager as he prepares to make his own move into management.
He had put on finishing drills with youngsters Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Pellistri as he works towards his coaching badges.
The 39-year-old had also been taken out for dinner in Manchester by Ten Hag during his trip.
Van Persie had previously been linked with a return to the club in a coaching role under Ten Hag, but revealed he declined the move due to his family being settled in Holland.
‘My son and daughter are important right now,’ Van Persie told the Life After Football magazine. ‘The fact that they have both found their passion is great. A hobby is nice, but you hope that they really find a passion.
‘Dina succeeded in doing that with horse riding, she’s totally into it, and Shaqueel has the same thing with soccer. My wife, Bouchra, is developing all her talents with our projects and that’s great to see. We’re enjoying ourselves together.
‘In London, when I played at Arsenal, we moved five times. We also lived in Manchester and Istanbul. All in all, we were away for almost 14 years.
‘But then we thought “what’s good for the kids now?” and felt a little stability would be nice.’
The former forward enjoyed an impressive spell at Manchester United after joining from Arsenal, scoring 58 goals in 105 appearances for the club across three seasons.
The Dutchman was the catalyst for the Red Devils winning their last Premier League title in 2012-13 as he scored 26 times in 38 matches.
Source:Daily Mail