Mancini concerned over Van Persie chase

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says the club could miss out on signing Robin van Persie from Arsenal.

While City have the resources available to secure Van Persie’s signature, both Manchester United and Juventus are also interested in the Netherlands striker.

And Mancini has acknowledged the outcome of the pursuit is far from certain.

“I don’t know what will happen with Van Persie,” Mancini told The Mirror.

“Now he’s an Arsenal player.

“They are a top team, even though they’ve lost some good players in the last year. For me they are one of the best teams in the world, so it’s not easy for Van Persie to leave a club like this.

“When you are talking about Manchester City, United and Juventus it’s difficult for any player to choose between these three teams.

“But if we have a chance to take him, we will try. He is a top striker like the other strikers we have.”

The Italian manager also claimed his exiting squad is not good enough to win the Champions League, and claimed their main priority will be to try and retain the English Premier League title.

“Defending the title should be our target this year,” Mancini said.

“If we also go well in the Champions League, there could also be a chance that we can arrive in the quarter, semi-final or final.

“We will try to win it but it’s important, for this, that we have a good squad.

“But the Champions League is a strange competition sometimes. I don’t say Chelsea didn’t deserve to win it, but there were better teams than them last year.

“Chelsea probably deserved to win a Champions League three or four years ago, but there are some years when you can (win) a Champions League and not know why.

“Our target for the Champions League should be to go for the second stage after the group.”