Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that Juventus's bid for striker Robin van Persie was as low as £5.5m.

Wenger eventually sold Van Persie to rivals Manchester United for a fee of £24m, despite reported interest from Juventus and Manchester City.

However, Wenger has now revealed that the bid from Juventus was not realistic, and that he decided to cash in on the striker rather than let him go on a free next season.

"Juventus can't think about selling players for £55m and then buying new ones for a tenth of that amount," he said.

"That would be too easy, but that is not possible in today's football.

"Van Persie would have been a free agent in the summer of 2013, but we decided to sell after Manchester United made a great offer."

Van Persie has made a prolific start to his United career, scoring four goals in his opening three games.