Van Persie regrets linger at Juve

Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta admits he was disappointed his club missed out on signing Robin van Persie.

Antonio Conte’s side were eager to lure the Netherlands international away from Arsenal, but eventually decided against signing the attacker, who joined Manchester United.

“I have some regrets about van Persie, but it would have been a bad choice for the club if we had paid 30 million euros for a player with an expiring contract,” Marotta told Tuttosport.

“We are happy with the business we were able to carry out, though. We signed good, young players with reasonable salaries – (Kwadwo) Asamoah, (Mauricio) Isla and (Sebastian) Giovinco.

“Additionally, we should not forget that we managed to hold on to (Arturo) Vidal and (Claudio) Marchisio amid foreign interest.”

Marotta admitted Juventus are closely monitoring the situation of Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna.

The Italy international has a contract with his club until 2016 and Torino have so far been adamant that they will not sell Ogbonna.

Nevertheless, the Juve director has made it clear his club are ready to make a move if they decide to make the defender available.

“Ogbonna is a big talent and a player we really like. Juventus would have an obligation to make a move for him if Torino were to make him available on the transfer market,” Marotta said.

Marotta also discussed the situation of Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, who was believed to be on his way to the Turin giants in the transfer window.

He said they remain interested in signing the towering attacker.

“Llorente remains an option for us as long as he’s on the market. We will look at what’s possible in January,” Marotta said.

The Spain international’s contract with Bilbao is due to expire at the end of the season.