Icons will be conducting an exclusive signing session with Arsenal captain and talisman Robin Van Persie this week. One of the deadliest strikers in the world, we couldn't be happier to have the sensational Dutchman on board. Pre-order signed shirts, boots and photos now and have them in time for Christmas.

Arsenal's Robin Van Persie is blasting his way into the record books. With 31 goals in 29 Premier League games in 2011 – including ten in his last five – the masterful Dutchman is closing in on Alan Shearer's record of 36 goals in a calendar year. 

Van Persie is averaging 1.07 goals per game in 2011. No other player in Premier League history has sustained such a high rate of goalscoring over a full year. Indeed, back when Shearer set the record in 1995, his goals came at the lower rate of 0.87 per game. The same applies for Thierry Henry's 34-goal haul in 2004. In other words, what we are witnessing from the rampant Van Persie is unheard of in the Premier League. Statistically, the 28-year-old can claim to be the best striker the Premier League has ever seen.

Form is temporary but Van Persie – who inherited the Arsenal captaincy from the departed Cesc Fabregas this summer – has maintained this level of performance for nine months now (discounting the close season). This is not simply a man in form; this is a man cementing his status as one of the best players in the world. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has always seen Van Persie as the eventual successor to fellow Arsenal and Holland legend Dennis Bergkamp. It is now clear the comparisons are justified.

Van Persie is a graceful player, but the deft touches and subtle movement are complimented by utterly devastating finishing. Van Persie is a master of both power and finesse, and a frequent scorer of stunning goals. His game is varied and unpredictable, and although predominantly left-footed, his right foot – or "chocolate leg", as he affectionately terms it – has become an equally dangerous weapon in recent seasons.

Wenger brought Van Persie to Arsenal from Dutch side Feyenoord at a cost of £2.75m in 2004. He can count that purchase among his very best. While precociously gifted, however, the young Dutchman was temperamental and injury-prone. But Wenger is a man who knows how to extract the absolute best from his players. The ill-discipline has been tempered, and a more mature Van Persie now seems to have put the worst of his injury problems behind him.

Injuries have certainly proved Van Persie's biggest hurdle, and his progress at Arsenal has been stalled on numerous occasions since 2004. Until now, every one of his seasons in an Arsenal shirt has been blighted by injury. He counts a broken toe, a fractured fifth metatarsal, a recurrent knee injury and a twisted ankle among his worst, and has never once finished a season with 30 league appearances. Arsenal will be hoping this is the year that changes.

Injury prevented him from scoring his first goal until January last season, but since the floodgates opened the goals have continued to flow. He finished 2010/11 with 18, equalling the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry for goals between the turn of the year to the end of the season. That outstanding run also included goals in nine consecutive away games, and he finished only two behind joint leaders Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez in the race for the Golden Boot, despite only featuring in 25 games.

This season he leads the scoring charts with 13 goals from 12 games. Since surpassing 100 goals for Arsenal in October he has added another 10. He's now left with seven games to score the six goals required to beat Alan Shearer's calendar year record.

Whether he manages it or not, 2011 is sure to go down in Premier League history as Robin Van Persie's year.

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In the second in our series of Legends, we've continued the Best of British theme from our sale. Who else could we have chosen, but Paul Scholes... 

The Premier League has earned its reputation as the world's most entertaining for a number of reasons. There is the speed of play, the energy of the game, the passion of the fans and the commitment of the players. But on technical terms, it's often been regarded as inferior to La Liga and Serie A.

The same things that the league has been praised for, though, have been used to criticise the kind of players the country produces. Occasionally, the mould is broken. Jack Wilshere and Wayne Rooney, in recent years, are England players that wouldn't look out of place in the red of Spain. But before them, there was Paul Scholes.

That's not to say the Oldham schemer didn't embody some of the cherished aspects of our game. In a Manchester United shirt, there were few who have given more to the cause than Scholes. But he combined it with a once in a generation elegance, vision and class that drew praise from other legends of the game.

Sir Bobby Charlton, who many consider to be the greatest United player of all, described Scholes as "in many ways my favourite United player." Xavi Hernandez, arguably the most talented midfielder in the world, said: "In the last 15 to 20 years the best midfielder that I have seen - the most complete - is Scholes. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything."

High praise indeed, but not unwarranted. Scholes started and finished his career at Old Trafford and over the course of 17 years, won every club honour in the game. 

His breathtaking range of passing, clever movement, eye for goal and the general intelligence of his play were instrumental in the helping restore the glory days to Manchester United. Alongside the bite of Roy Keane, the darting runs of Ryan Giggs and the devastating impact of Cristiano Ronaldo, Scholes has been ever present, quietly and graciously earning plaudits.

The toils of the England national side at major tournaments have been frustrating for many, but the retirement of Scholes from the international game at an early age should be a source of chagrin for everyone. 

In an attempt to accommodate both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the midfield, Scholes was shunted out on the left wing by Sven-Goran Eriksson. This 'square pegs in round holes' formula failed (under successive managers) and when Scholes announced his international retirement at only 29 in 2004, many attributed it to this perceived oversight.

When Fabio Capello asked Scholes to reconsider his decision in time for the 2010 World Cup, it was just desserts for the most talented midfielder of his generation. Scholes, though, stuck to his guns; dogged as ever.

He retired after the 2011 Champions League Final defeat to Barcelona after scoring 150 goals in 676 games for United and 14 in 66 for England. Sir Alex Ferguson's search to replace him starts now, but it remains to be seen whether he will ever find anyone to fill the gap left behind by the little ginger kid from Oldham.

Trifon Ivanov: Potential Twivial Hirsute?

We're delighted to announce a series of new initiatives that we'll be incorporating into our various online media as of this week.

You may have noticed our increased presence on Twitter and Facebook recently. Along with our blog, we'll be using these channels to publish and promote some great new regular features.

Every Thursday, we'll be posing a question to our Twitter followers in homage to the bewhiskered legends of the beautiful game. Twivial Hirsute starts today and you'll find the question in our Twitter feed. 

We at Icons have a longstanding history of signing goal machines. To mark this, we're delighted to introduce the Forward Friday feature to our blog. At the end of every week, we're going to run a profile, history and all round celebration of one of the great hitmen from our archive. Be sure to let us know who you'd like to be featured - who are your favourite strikers?

Earlier this week, we kicked off our Legend of the Week feature. Every Tuesday, we'll be running a profile of one of our most iconic signees so again, get in touch and tell us who you think we should be featuring! This week, we kicked off with Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

So have a read and we hope you enjoy the new look, interactive Icons format!