Juventus ‘were priced out of a move for Man United’s Robin van Persie’

Juventus were priced out of a move for former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, according to the club’s general director Beppe Marotta.

The 28-year-old Netherlands international was linked with moves to Manchester City and the Serie A side over the summer, before eventually completing a £24m switch to Manchester United in August.

Van Persie has already scored four goals in two Premier League starts for the Reds Devils, including a hat-trick against Southampton on Sunday.

Juventus, who won 4-1 against Udinese on Sunday, are in desperate need of another striker and Marotta revealed the Old Lady tried to sign Van Persie but were unwilling to match the Gunners’ “impossible” asking price.

“We had a few objectives on the market and we couldn’t get all of them,” he said. “For example, take Van Persie – at that moment in time it was impossible for any Italian club to sign him.

“To pay €30m for a player coming towards the end of his contract, without taking into account his wages, was not possible for Juventus or any other Serie A club.”

Antonio Conte’s side were also interested in signing Dimitar Berbatov and looked to have beaten Fiorentina to the former Manchester United forward’s signature, but Marotta revealed the Bulgarian preferred a move to Fulham ahead of Juventus.

“I hope to come across president Andrea Della Valle soon so that we can clear up this Berbatov situation, but I want to underline that we didn’t do anything wrong towards Fiorentina,” he said.

“We made an enquiry after the player had already turned down the Viola, but it all ended quickly because he told us that he preferred Fulham.”