Manchester United Still Interested in Robin Van Persie, Lose out on Lucas Moura

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once again confirmed the club's interest in signing Holland striker Robin Van Persie from Arsenal.

It is believed that Arsenal rejected a £20 million bid for the player in July and are unwilling to budge on their £30 million valuation of the player. However, Sir Alex Ferguson hopes a deal can still be made.

Speaking after the Red Devils' recent friendly against Barcelona in Gotenburg, the United boss said (via ManUtd.com):

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We have made a bid and they've been trying to negotiate with other clubs. We just have to persevere. Hopefully it will come our way. We're trying our best but there's no progress at this moment in time.

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.

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In other transfer news, United are out of the race to sign Brazil's 19-year-old Lucas Moura. Newly rich PSG confirmed the agreement of a deal with Sao Paulo for the midfielder's services.

A statement put out by PSG announced that Lucas will join the club after the winter break ends in 2013. No financial details were released by the club, but it is widely believed that the transfer will cost around €45 million. 

Such high spending continues a streak that has seen them break the bank for Thiago Silva (in a deal reportedly worth €42 million) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a reported £31 million.

Speaking on losing out on Lucas Moura, Sir Alex was less than happy about PSG's antics in the transfer market.

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I find it quite amazing that a club can pay €45million for a 19-year-old boy. To make a mark on everyone - to tell everyone that PSG are here - they've signed Thiago Silva from Milan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

They must have spent about €150million in the last month. As you know, the only deterrent to that is UEFA. In the conditions of European football, you don't qualify for Europe by winning the league where, hopefully, UEFA can have some power. When somebody's paying £45m for a 19-year-old boy you have to say the game's gone mad.

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