Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie is "on the way" to entering the pantheon of Gunners greats, while club legend Thierry Henry said he is "in admiration" of the Dutchman's recent form.
• Arsenal unveil stadium statues
Van Persie, 28, has been in sensational goalscoring form this calendar year having plundered 38 goals in all competitions for Arsenal in 2011.
And after watching the club unveil a statue of Henry, alongside monuments of Tony Adams and Herbert Chapman as part of the Gunners' 125th anniversary celebrations, Wenger tipped Van Persie to follow in his former forward's footsteps by etching his name into the Emirates Stadium history books.
"Robin is on the way,'' Wenger said. "It was the club's choice [with the statues] and I had the privilege to manage two of the players who were unveiled - hopefully there will be some more.''
Henry, who is Arsenal's all-time leading scorer, echoed Wenger's sentiments - hailing Van Persie's form and labelling his development since his arrival at the club "amazing".
"I saw him come in here and at the very beginning he wasn't the easiest guy to deal with, like I wasn't I guess, but it's amazing to see how he has improved," Henry said. "That tells you how intelligent a player he is.
"I am just in admiration. What he is doing right now, thank God he is playing for us and doing well. It is nice to see a player improve, and Robin is doing something amazing.
"That also tells you how important it is for him to not get injured. He has never had a chance to have a full season since he has been here - he was always out for two or three months.
"For the very first time he can go on a roll now and you can see the difference. I can only admire what he's doing now.''
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