Striker has reportedly said no to Juve and City and Wenger still
hopes he'll stay - but Gunners will add on a £5m premium if he
picks Old Trafford
Sir Alex Ferguson has been warned it will take an
“unbelievable” offer to persuade Arsenal to sell Robin van Persie
to him.
Gunners manager Arsene Wenger will
not sell for less than £20m - and will demand a premium fee of more
than £25m from Fergie and
Manchester United because
Arsenal do not want to do business with a direct Premier League
rival.
Meanwhile, Juventus, who have also
been chasing the Dutch striker, have claimed van Persie has told
them he will not move to Italy, but was signing for
another club.
Wenger still believes he can
persuade van Persie to stay, even though United are expected to
make an improved offer for him before the end of the
week.
Van Persie trained with his
team-mates at Arsenal’s pre-season camp in Germany on Wednesday
night, ahead of their away friendly against Cologne on Sunday, and
the club insist nothing has been agreed with United.
"We have made a bid
and they've been trying to negotiate
with other clubs," said Ferguson after United's friendly against
Barcelona on Wednesday night.
"I don't have a gut feeling on it
at the moment, I must admit.
"We're not getting any
breakthrough with Arsenal. It's difficult to say why they're
operating this way.
"I don't know what their thoughts
are, because they're not giving anything away."
Even though van Persie has been
training hard and is understood to be impressed with Arsenal's
summer spending spree, his statement that he will not sign a new
contract to replace the one that expires at the end of the coming
season still leaves them with a major dilemma.
Arsenal do not want to risk losing
van Persie on a free transfer next summer, which may tempt them to
sell even if the signs are encouraging that the striker is having a
change of heart.
The Mirror understands that van
Persie has told Manchester City that he does not want to join
them.
Now Juventus are out of the
running, United are likely to test Arsenal's, and van Persie’s,
resolve with another bid.
But Wenger and the club’s
hierarchy are determined to hold out for a much bigger price if
they end up selling to a rival.
Arsenal are not convinced United
will meet their asking price because of van Persie’s age - he
turned 29 at the start of this week - and the fact he is only one
year away from leaving the Emirates on a Bosman.
Elsewhere, Wenger may consider a big offer from Barcelona
for Alex Song, but is under no
pressure to sell as the midfielder's contract does not expire until
2015.
Arsenal would also want a
ready-made replacement to be lined up before doing business with
Barca.
They have been tracking Real Madrid’s Turkish
midfielder Nuri Sahi, who's also been linked with
Liverpool, for a one-year loan
deal.
Rennes and France midfielder Yann
M’Vila has also been a long-term target.
Remind yourself of
all the twists and turns in the van
Persie saga with our transfer
timeline,
And read Steve Stammers' column
on why Arsenal fans should
remember Robin's model pro conduct since that infamous contract
statement.
.jpg "The photoshop is so good it could almost be the real thing")