Manchester United Transfers: Van Persie Would Rather Go to United Than City

A report on Tuesday claims that Arsenal's want-away striker Robin van Persie would prefer a move to Manchester United, if he were to stay in the Premier League (via The Independent).

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, van Persie controversially handed in a transfer request, citing the club's lack of ambition as his main motive.

It remains to be seen whether or not Sir Alex Ferguson has any concrete interest in bidding for the highly-rated forward, with news emerging yesterday that a bid in the region of £30 million for Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura had been rejected.

United's chief scout, Jim Lawlor, is reportedly in Brazil trying to negotiate a deal for Lucas before the start of the upcoming Olympics, where the player is tipped to shine.

A report on Soccer news website Goal.com also reports that Arsene Wenger may be considering holding on to van Persie, running the risk of losing the club's biggest asset for free next summer, when the player's contract expires.

The report states that Wenger would be hopeful of being able to tempt the player into signing a new deal at some point during the season.

Transfer rumours surrounding Manchester United are likely to continue for weeks to come, Sir Alex having hinted that the club were looking to make at least one more signing before the end of the transfer window in a recent press conference.