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Van Persie urged Wenger to sign Van der Vaart

Rafael van der Vaart has scored seven goals for Spurs this season © PA Photos

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Robin van Persie has revealed he urged Arsene Wenger to bring Rafael van der Vaart to Arsenal prior to his move to arch-rivals Tottenham.

Van der Vaart has been a revelation for Spurs since joining from Real Madrid on the final day of the transfer window and, ahead of the North London derby this weekend, Van Persie said he would prefer his Netherlands team-mate to be playing alongside him.

"He is a great footballer," he told NUsport. "I know the quality he has. I would rather have him at Arsenal. I indicated a couple of times that Rafael would be useful for Arsenal but that advice was not followed.

"I regret the fact he was not signed, but it is the right of the club - this is just my opinion. Now you can see the result. Spurs were a good team but now they are a top team."

Arsenal could be without a number of players at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, with Jack Wilshere - who withdrew from the England squad this week with a back problem - facing a battle to be fit.

"Jack has a test," Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online. "He has a little strain of a little muscle in the back and is not in full training at the moment. We will know more on Friday about whether he is available for Saturday."

Wenger will assess Andrei Arshavin, Tomas Rosicky and Van Persie after their returns from international duty.

"We have to assess Arshavin, who has still to come back [from Russia]," he said. "Rosicky is coming in later too. He had a tight hamstring, but should be okay. Van Persie had 45 minutes [for Netherlands], which was agreed. He needed that. We had someone at the game and he looked quite sharp."

Arsenal will also be without Thomas Vermaelen, Abou Diaby and Manuel Almunia, although Almunia could be fit in time for the trip to Braga in the Champions League next week.

"Almunia needs a few more days because he has been out for a long time, but he should be available for next week," Wenger said.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.