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Van Persie would have been a bad choice for Juventus, says Marotta
Sep 7, 2012 12:25:00 PM
The Turin giants eventually opted against signing the Dutchman, but are pleased with their overall transfer activity, while still keeping tabs on Ogbonna and Llorente
Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta feels that signing Robin van Persie would have been the wrong choice for the Serie A champions due to his hefty transfer fee.The Bianconeri were eager to lure the Netherlands international away from Arsenal this summer, but eventually decided against signing the attacker, who joined Manchester United in the end.
"I have some regrets about Van Persie, but it would have been a bad choice for the club if we had paid €30 million for a player with an expiring contract," Marotta stated to 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 then admitted that Juve are closely monitoring the situation of Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna.
The Italy international has a contract with his current club until the summer of 2016 and Torino have so far been adamant that they will not sell Ogbonna. Nevertheless, the Juve director has made it clear that Juve 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," he said.
The Juve director then went on to discuss the situation of Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, who was believed to be on his way to the Turin giants in the summer transfer window, and stressed that 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."
The Spain international's contract with Bilbao is due to expire at the end of the season.
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