LONDON (AFP)
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed on Friday that Manchester United have
made a bid for unsettled Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.
Ferguson made his move for van Persie after the Netherlands
international, whose current contract expires at the end of the
forthcoming campaign, announced earlier this month that he would
refuse to sign a new deal with the Gunners.
Premier League champions Manchester City and Italian giants
Juventus have also expressed interest in van Persie, but Ferguson
tried to steal a march on his rivals with a firm offer.
It is believed Arsenal rejected United's bid because they want at
least £20 million ($31.2 million) for the 28-year-old, who
scored 37 goals in all competitions last season and won both the
Players' and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards.
"Obviously Arsenal have given out the fact that we've made a bid
for him," Ferguson told MUTV.
"We try to keep business as close as possible to us until the
moment we conclude a deal. There's no point talking about
something that might not happen.
"There are other clubs interested in the player. We've shown an
interest and that's where we're at at the moment."
Van Persie stunned Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger when he declared
immediately after Euro 2012 that he wanted to leave the north
London team because he felt the club's ambitions did not match
his own.
That shock announcement prompted City and Juventus to start the
chase for one of Europe's top strikers and United are now firmly
in the hunt as well.
Arsenal were expected to announce on Friday whether van Persie
would join them on their pre-season tour to Asia but later
delayed the decision until Saturday, when they are due to leave
the country.
It is widely believed Wenger will opt against including van
Persie in a bid to avoid further acrimony.
The van Persie saga threatens to become a carbon copy of those
that saw Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri sold to Barcelona and
Manchester City respectively last year, even though Wenger was
desperate to keep both players.
