London: Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has stated that he believes Robin van Persie is "perfect" for the club, but insisted Wayne Rooney is also very important to the team.
The France international considers the club`s new arrival to have slotted into the squad perfectly, and that his hunger and tenacity to work for the team has allowed him to blend in much more quickly than anyone would have anticipated.
The Dutchman already has 14 goals to his name in the current campaign, with a late free-kick winning the Manchester derby on Sunday, and the left-back believes the 29-year-old summer signing has what it takes to help the club win titles.
"Robin is perfect for Manchester United," Evra said in an interview.
"When he scored the hat-trick at Southampton he also missed a penalty."
"The first thing he said when he came back to the dressing room was that he was really sorry for missing the penalty. That shows the hunger, humility and personality he has to win trophies.
"He is not just scoring for himself. He really wants the team to win something."
The 31-year-old full-back also insisted that Rooney was still essential to the team, dismissing reports that the forward has lost his ability to score this season, pointing towards his recent rich vein of form, in which he bagged himself doubles against both Reading and Manchester City.
"A lot of people criticised Wayne at the beginning of the season, asking why he didn`t score so many goals," Evra added.
"Last week he scored two goals. Today [Sunday] he got two again. He is a really important player for us."
Evra was also glad to see a former Red Devil left on the bench, as Mario Balotelli was favoured to Carlos Tevez, and believes the striker`s initial omission was a welcome relief.
"Tevez caused us problems when he came on," Evra said. "I told him before the game that I was really happy he was not going to start.
"It was a good sign for us. When he came on he put pressure on every defender and chased everywhere."
Goal.com
First Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 12:03