Man-City-grab-25m-Robin-van-Persie-Arsenal-falter.
Roberto Mancini has indicated that
Manchester City will move for Robin van Persie this summer if Arsenal
fail to persuade their Holland striker to sign a new deal.
Van Persie is out of contract at the
Emirates in 12 months' time and City's Italian manager has made no
secret of his desire to reunite last season's Premier League top scorer
with his old Arsenal team-mates Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy.
It would still take an offer in the
region of £25million to sign Van Persie, but Mancini believes that is
more realistic than the £45m price tag Napoli have put on his other
target, Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani.
He said: 'Who would I choose between
Van Persie and Cavani? The Dutchman is a champion, while the Uruguayan
has everything and I wanted to take him to Inter Milan when he played at
Palermo. But it's impossible to sign Cavani at his current price - with
Van Persie it's different.
'Van Persie is a top-class player.
His situation is different than when we signed Clichy and Nasri. It was
difficult for Arsene Wenger to keep them in London. We will sign a
striker if one of our forwards leave.'
Edin Dzeko
looks likely to be the striker to make way at City this summer, with
Juventus ready to compete with any bid from Bayern Munich.
Mancini insists he has no intention of selling Mario Balotelli and also
believes Carlos Tevez will stay after settling his differences with the
club.
'Balotelli will stay for sure,' he said. 'I forgive Tevez and he will stay unless he asks to leave.'

Arsenal are taking a hardline approach to their contract negotiations with Van Persie.
The
club's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, met with Van Persie's agent, Kees
Vos, for another round of discussions on Monday, but still no agreement
has been reached.
Arsenal have offered Van Persie a new three-year deal worth £130,000 per week - plus a £5million signing-on bonus.
The Dutchman is stalling on the deal, and Sportsmail understands one of
the reasons is the club's unwillingness to offer him a fourth year.
Arsenal sources have indicated the existing deal on the table will not
be improved.
Meanwhile,
Jack Wilshere will endure gruelling double pre-season training sessions
as Arsenal prepare him for his long-awaited return.
The midfielder missed the whole of last season with ankle and foot
problems before undergoing surgery to clear up a tendinitis complaint in
his left knee.
Once the
20-year-old's rehabilitation from his latest surgery is complete, he
will embark on a series of double summer training sessions designed to
get him up to speed in time for the new season.
Source : DailyMail.co.uk