"I took the No.20 shirt because I'm here to win a 20th title with United."
Robin van Persie scored 48 goals for Manchester United in the Premier League, but none are more memorable than that volley against Aston Villa.
The Dutchman left Arsenal in the summer of 2012, making the move from the capital to Manchester in a bid to get his hands on the Premier League trophy. Despite Van Persie scoring a staggering 30 goals during the 2011/12 campaign, the Gunners still finished 19 points off the pace at the end of the season.
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Despite performing so well for the North London club, the then 28-year-old was not offered a new deal.
"You can compare me being at Arsenal to being married. Me and my wife - Arsenal - were married for eight years," Van Persie said about his contract situation.
"After eight years, my wife, possibly got a bit tired of me. Those are the facts. If Arsenal are not offering you a new deal... you can have different views on things but the fact is Arsenal never offered me a new deal. Then you have to look around. I was ambitious. I still wanted to win the league. That is life."
Thankfully for United, Arsenal's loss was their gain as they brought in the man who would help them to win their 20th, and subsequently final, Premier League title. Sir Alex Ferguson has coached some of the best players the game has ever seen during his illustrious career - and although Van Persie will not be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and David Beckham - the Scot knew just how good he was.
"When you identify a great player coming to the end of his contract, you go for him no matter who," Ferguson said of Van Persie in 2013. "In terms of impact he has made as big an impact as any player I can imagine. [Eric] Cantona was an incredible impact player, I've had some great strikers, maybe 10 great strikers. We had an expectation of him. He was sensational last year, but Arsène [Wenger] said he was better than I'd think after I'd done the deal and he was right. He has never disappointed us."
Van Persie was a big-game player, he lived for the big occasions and came up trumps when it mattered. Goals against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City in the 2012/13 season all proved that.
Yet when United welcomed Villa to Old Trafford on 22 April 2013, he showed exactly how much he thrived under the spotlight.
A first-half hat-trick from the prolific striker wrapped up the title in style. United were already 13 points clear before kick-off, but that treble got them over the line.
Van Persie opened the scoring in the second minute while his hat-trick goal came just after the half-hour mark, but it is his second strike that is most fondly remembered.
Rooney found Van Persie with a sumptuous lofted through ball that meant the forward didn't need to break stride in order to run to meet it on the edge of the area to rifle a searing left-footed volley past a helpless Brad Guzan in goal.
"So Wayne and I had talked before the game about the pass over the Villa defence," Van Persie said. "We’d worked on it in training, too. There are a few things that have to come together, though, from the moment Wayne hits the pass.
"First, you’re making a run for your space. Then, when you’ve finally got your space, you have to count your steps, because if my last step is too big or too small then I can’t really connect right.
"I have to have a quick look to see roughly where the ball will go. Then, just before I hit it, I need to have another look because I know already where the goal is. Of course, the pass has to be right as well.
"It’s basically like taking a golf shot, but you’re doing it on the run. You have to get five or six things exactly right at once: the pass, the movement, the steps, the connection, the direction. You need a bit of luck too because if one thing is slightly off, the ball doesn’t go in.
"Everything came together in that moment. You practise these things, you plan them, but when it comes off in a game like that, in the way it did, that’s what you dream of."
A dream fulfilled at last, with the Premier League finally added to a honours list that deserved so much better.
After the full-time whistle, the title celebrations may well have been in full swing but there was no doubt in Ferguson's mind as to where the plaudits should be going.
"It was goal of the century for me," Ferguson said. "It was marvellous – the technique with his head down, over the ball and just perfect timing. It was a magnificent strike. He scored exactly the same goal against Arsenal. He is in his mature years and winning the league tonight meant a lot to him."
It did mean a lot to Van Persie. After eight years at Arsenal without top-flight success, he finally had a winner's medal around his neck and a goal to clinch the title that proved worth waiting for.
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