No Move to Sell van Persie to Manchester City: Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has denied all rumours of the Gunners captain Robin van Persie being transferred to Manchester City this summer, according to a ESPN report.

Speculation of a possible van Persie exit started after the Gunners successfuly managed to get German forward Lukas Podolski, who is due to join from German club FC Köln after the end of this season.

"Our plan is to keep Robin van Persie even if we buy any player. Our desire is clean and clear," the Telegraph quoted Wenger as saying.

Although the Dutchman, whose contract expires in 2013, has put all talks of a contract extension on hold, Wenger claims that van Persie is fully concentrating on his performance, at the moment, rather than paying attention to some baseless rumours.

"I cannot stop that [others talking about Van Persie]. In an ideal world, maybe, but it doesn't bother me too much. Robin is the leader of our club and I would just like to specify that he is not at the end of his contract. He is under contract until 2013. So do your job, focus on your job which he does very well and enjoy your games," goal.com quoted the Frenchman as saying.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, who has earlier bought many Arsenal players including Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Gael Clichy, had earlier expressed his interest in van Persie saying that he was willing to offer the 28-year-old Dutch striker a four-year-old contract with a very generous weekly wage.

However, Wenger sent a strong message across saying: "We will not sell Robin van Persie to Manchester City," according to a Daily Mail report.

"We will not lose anybody to Manchester City, or to anybody else because we want to keep our players. I can only let people talk. We want to keep Robin Van Persie, that is clear, we will do everything possible to extend his contract, that is clear," the Frenchman added.