Flying Dutchman Robin Van Persie Would Rather Go to Manchester United Than Manchester City

Arsenal’s want-away striker Robin van Persie would prefer a move to Manchester United, if he were to stay in the Premier League.

It is also believed that Arsene Wenger shares this sentiment, the Arsenal boss being unwilling to sell to the current English league champions.

The report also states that the Dutchman’s number one choice would be a move to Italy’s Serie A, with Juventus his ideal destination.

Coming off the back of his finest season for the Gunners, in which he scored an impressive 37 goals in all competitions, Robin Van Persie controversially handed in a transfer request, citing the club’s lack of ambition as his main motive.

Manchester United Transfer News : Manchester United Set To End Lucas Moura Chase After Seeing £30m Bid Rejected

Brazilian Lucas Moura have indicated they want to make at least £23.5m from any sale, and with Moura entitled to 20% of any transfer fee due to an agreement in his contract, United were confident they could strike a deal for around £30m.

However, it appears that latest offer has been knocked back by president Juvenal Juvencio leaving the proposed transfer hanging in the balance.

Sir Alex Ferguson sees the 19-year-old as an important addition as he looks to wrestle the Premier League title back from rivals City, and chief scout Jim Lawlor was sent to Brazil with the mission of concluding the deal.

But it seems he may be heading home empty handed after the latest set back. Before meeting with Lawlor last week, Juvencio claimed his club were prepared to gamble by not selling Moura and revealed he told Inter Milan as much when he met with them.

Manchester United’s chances of landing the highly-rated attacking midfielder will diminish further next month, as Moura’s cut of any fee will increase from 20% to 30% from August 1. With Sao Paulo looking for around £25m themselves, the overall deal could sky-rocket to around the £40m mark in a few weeks time.

Manchester United News : Manchester United world’s most valuable team, according to Forbes

Manchester United are the most valuable team in sports at $2.23 billion (£1.43 billion), according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey.

The Premier League team, owned by the same American family that owns the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are ranked on top thanks to lucrative global sponsorship deals.

Real Madrid are in second place, at $1.88 billion (£1.20 billion). The New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys are third at $1.85 billion (£1.18 billion). Rounding out the top five are the Washington Redskins at $1.56 billion (£1 billion).

All 32 NFL teams make the list of 50 most valuable teams with seven Major League Baseball teams earned spots.

The highest value for an NBA team belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers 35th overall. No NHL clubs made the survey, but two from Formula One racing were included: Ferrari and McLaren.

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