ANIMAL MAGIC; ARSENAL VAN PERSIE'S TREATMENT.

Byline: JOHN CROSS

PLACENTA therapist Mariana Kovacevic has treated TWELVE Premier League stars who have made secret visits to her Belgrade clinic.

Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie is the latest to fly to Serbia to have animal placenta fluid injected into his ankle to speed up his recovery.

But the Dutchman is by no means the first to see Serbian housewife Kovacevic and use her bizarre methods to treat sports injuries.

Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United players have beaten a path to her clinic.

United's young Serbian winger Zoran Tosic, 22, has been to see Kovacevic - as have several of the Serbian national team.

Chelsea can call on one Serbian international, defender Branislav Ivanovic, while United have Nemanja Vidic.

City confirmed that two of their players have visited Kovacevic.

Tosic's agent Zoran Pavlovic said: "Yes, Tosic has seen Mariana and I know her. She helped him two years ago when he was at Partizan Belgrade and he had a leg injury.

"I don't know if Mariana works miracles, but she is very, very good and I would recommend her to any footballer. Tosic would use her again if Manchester United gave their blessing.

"It is hard for me to say exactly who uses Mariana, but I can tell you that a lot of players from the Serbia, Netherlands and Italian national teams have visited her. She is very popular."

Van Persie is hoping that Kovacevic's treatment will speed up his recovery time after he ruptured ankle ligaments in Holland's friendly with Italy at the weekend.

He thinks he may be out for just six weeks, but club physio Colin Lewin has yet to see him and Arsenal are being a bit more cautious with their predictions.

Kovacevic uses horse and cow placentas to get fluid, and injects it into the damaged area.

The oxygen and nutrients are said to speed up recovery and make the ligaments repair quicker and come back stronger.

Kovacevic then deploys intensive massage. Van Persie was recommended to her by PSV Eindhoven's Serbian striker Danko Lazovic.

Lazovic says his bad ankle was supposed to take six weeks to recover - but he was back playing within a fortnight.

Kovacevic is now renowned as a leading authority, while German doctor Hans Muller-Wolfhart went in for similar methods to help Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Jonathan Woodgate and Ronaldo.

Muller-Wolfhart, employed by Bayern Munich, used controversial techniques including calves' blood and an extract from the crest of a cockerel and placenta fluid. One former athlete who went to see Muller-Wolfhart in the 90s, who did not wish to be named, told Mirror Sport: "He was fantastic. I had an Achilles injury which no one could cure and then suddenly he helped me. I went, the waiting room was a who's who in sport and after the treatment he got me tickets to see Bayern against Real Madrid.

"It will be the same with the specialist in Serbia.

"Footballers will do anything, anything, in World Cup year to get fit. Part of it is psychosomatic.

"Does it work? Yes. But can a placenta cure Van Persie overnight? No way. But it may help speed things up and it will certainly help him believe it's helping, which is important."

Ajax's Serbian striker Marko Pantelic has been treated by Kovacevic for the last seven years.

He said: "I know that a lot of players, among them some Premier League players, go to Mariana - especially from the Serbia team.

"Robin van Persie will be back playing five or six times quicker than expected if he follows her instructions."

Mirror Football

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CAPTION(S):

RECOVERY Zoran Tosic ANKLE AGONY Van Persie lies on the pitch in agony after being injured in Holland's clash with Italy