Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has admitted that the club was left with no choice, but to sell wantaway striker, Robin van Persie, to bitter rivals, Manchester United. Both clubs announced last night that they had agreed a fee for the Dutch striker, and he just needs to agree personal terms and undergo a medical.“It’s sad to lose a player of his quality. He had a year left on his contract so we didn’t have the choice,” the Frenchman said.

When asked by TF1 whether he will recruit another player to replace Van Persie, Wenger replied: “We already recruited to replace him.”

The Gunners boss, was evidently referring to Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, who he bought this summer, from Montpellier and FC Cologne respectively.

What can anybody say again than to say that Wenger is a businessman, he got Persie for 2.75m pounds and his now letting him go for 24m pounds.. But i promise you the Gunners will pay for these sale.. Manchester United have come out of the deal on top and this buy might just take them back to the top again

It has been a 16-year rivalry, a sporting lifetime of enmity that turned into an unlikely entente cordiale, but the most telling victory of all has occurred off the field. By agreeing to sign Robin van Persie from Arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson has inflicted one of Arsene Wenger’s most humiliating defeats. In its own way, it is as damaging as the 8-2 thrashing at Old Trafford last August.