I REGRET SELLING VAN PERSIE - WENGER CONFESS

ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has admitted
that he would have rather seen Robin van Persie
join big-spending Paris Saint-Germain than
Premier League 'enemies' Manchester United. A £24million deal was agreed on Wednesday
that saw Arsenal break with precedent to sell
one of its prized assets to bitter rival, United for
the first time in Wenger's 16-year reign. Arsenal's hand was forced last month when the
29-year-old revealed that he would not sign a
new deal at the club, meaning that they had to
offload their captain or lose him for free next
summer. But despite sanctioning the sale, Wenger has
admitted that he is disappointed that the
Dutchman will be wearing the shirt of the club
that he has battled against for so many years. ''To strengthen an enemy is the other negative
point of this loss,'' Wenger told Eurosport’s
parent station TF1. ''We wanted to avoid it but
we couldn’t. Honestly, I’d rather sell him
abroad, to Paris Saint-Germain for example.
Manchester United know him and know his qualities. He’s really an exceptional player,
believe me.'' Wenger, however, is optimistic that Arsenal can
cope with the departure of Van Persie as they
prepare for the new Premier League season.
''Van Persie is a great player so it’s always sad
to lose such a player. But we must consider the
economic reality and the will of the player,'' he added. ''When you can’t succeed in extending the
contract of a player that is in its last year, there
is no other way but to let him go. It’s sad
because he played for us for eight years. He’s
29 now. He was 21 when he came and it’s
another bitter pill to swallow. ''A lot has happened before and we survived it
all, but this is a real challenge because Van Persie
scored 30 (Premier League) goals in a year,
almost one per game. It’s a tough challenge for
our new forwards to replace him.’