Arsenal are reportedly digging their heels in for at least £20million for their captain striker Robin van Persie as Manchester United will reportedly be stepping up their bid for the player after they were unsuccessful in signing Lucas Moura who snubbed them for french club PSG.
Numerous Reports coming in yesterday suggest that he could have been a Manchester United player by the end of yesterday even though those reports turned out to be extremely wide of the mark and while United stepped up their pursuit of the Dutchman yesterday manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he is making little/no progress.
“We’ve made a bid, they have been trying to negotiate with other clubs,” the United manager said last night.
“I don’t have a gut feeling about it. We can’t get a breakthrough with Arsenal.”
“I don’t know what Arsenal’s thoughts are because they’re not giving anything away,” Sir Alex added.
“It’s difficult to say why they’re operating this way. I can’t give you any more information. We just have to persevere.
“We are trying our best and hopefully it will come our way but there’s no progress at this moment in time.”
According to the Daily Mirror, Arsenal are trying to extract an additional £5million from United on top of the £20million transfer fee with small hopes at the Emirates that van Persie will stay with the Gunners. The 29-year-old stated last month that he wanted to leave the club and even though he has been impressed by the calibre of signings this summer he has made up his mind to leave the club, but we have not heard anything from the man himself so it would be unwise to assume things.
Milan To Battle Gunners Over Sahin
AC Milan will reportedly be challenging Arsenal for the loan signing of Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin. The 23-year-old has been linked numerous times with a move to the Emirates on a temporary basis after being told he would not be getting much playing time in the coming season at his current club Real madrid.
Milan and Real met in a friendly match in New York last night and Milan director Adriano Galliani and Real president Florentino Perez were expected to discuss a move to Milan for player Kaka. Reports from Italy claim the situation regarding Sahin was set to be added to the agenda for another date.
Milan are interested in a season-long loan with the right to purchase Sahin outright next summer but Real coach Jose Mourinho sees Sahin as a long-term component of his squad and is not willing to loan with an option to purchase, either to Milan or Arsenal. Mourinho has told the Turkey international that he cannot expect much playing time next season after he played just 600 minutes over 10 games last season.
Arsenal see Sahin as a potential replacement for Alex Song. The Cameroon international has been linked with interest from Barcelona although the Catalan side will only pay £15million for a player Arsene Wenger rates at a much higher value.
