Sir Alex Ferguson is not an easy man to impress, but even the Manchester United manager marvelled at the commitment being shown by Robin Van Persie at Old Trafford.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances that led to the Dutch striker leaving Arsenal in the summer for United, Van Persie was not able to get any preseason games in him, going straight into first team action after completing his move to United.
To make up for falling behind on preseason, Van Persie has been training extra hard, and Ferguson admitted he was extremely impressed with his new striker's commitment.
"The refreshing thing for me is he's doing extra work in training because he's not had any preseason games," Sir Alex Ferguson told reporters ahead of United's English Premier League game against Newcastle Sunday.
"It's quite remarkable considering he's got seven goals in (his last) seven games. I'm pleased with that and I think his fitness will improve even more."
Van Persie is no one-trick pony, with the prolific Dutchman equally capable of creating goals as he is in scoring them. The 29-year-old, after his two-goal effort against CFR Cluj in Tuesday's Champions League game, said he was still not happy with his assist rate at United and was looking to improve on that aspect, having only garnered one assist this year, courtesy his brilliant through ball to Shinji Kagawa in their 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
"He's a good passer of the ball with good vision in his passing, too," Ferguson said. "The goal he made last week for Kagawa against Tottenham is evidence of his passing ability.
United are banking on their attacking prowess this year, with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez, Kagawa and Van Persie in their ranks, and Ferguson is hoping for another stellar season from the former Arsenal player, after his 37-goal effort last campaign.
"I would love that to happen," the United manager said. "In my experience, and where we are at the moment, we need two strikers to get over 20 goals. If we get that, we definitely have a chance."
Rooney and Van Persie showed they could form a lethal partnership in Tuesday's game against Cluj, with the former, who played in a deeper playmaking role, giving two assists to the latter in a 2-1 victory.
"For the last couple of years, Wayne has played a lot in behind one striker," Ferguson added. "But Cluj are a useful side who rely on the counter-attack, so we tried to avoid that as much as we could.
"In fact, their goal was from a counter-attack, but we tried to force them onto us so we could counter-attack ourselves.
"Chicharito was occupying the main two central defenders so we'd have a wee bit more space for Rooney and Van Persie."
Ferguson admitted Newcastle would give his side a tough test on Sunday, but was confident of getting a favorable result, after having beaten the Magpies in last week's League Cup game.
"It's always a difficult place to go," he said. "They'll be buoyed by their support. I think Alan Pardew has a really good team there. After the game against Tottenham we have to make sure we don't lose.
"We played some really good football at times (against Spurs) and it was interesting to play Rooney, Chicharito and Robin Van Persie together. It gives me some thoughts and options for certain games."