London, Aug 16: After weeks of speculation and rumours, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson finally got his hands on Arsenal wantaway striker Robin van Persie for a fee reportedly worth £24 million.

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The 19-time champions confirmed the deal on their official website which said: "Manchester United is pleased to announce it has reached agreement with Arsenal Football Club for the transfer of Robin Van Persie. The deal is subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms. A further announcement will be made in due course."

The 29-year-old Dutch star had clearly stated that he would not be signing a new deal with the Gunners due to their lack of ambition and future plans. Arsenal were willing to pay their captain £130k as weekly wages plus a huge amount on signing a new deal.

Van Persie, who top-scored with 30 goals in the League last season, was targetted by United's rivals and neighbours Manchester City and Italian champions Juventus.

The Red Devils first lodged a bid rumoured to be in the region of £12-15m while City and Juve had a £15m bid rejected along with United's as Arsenal were not ready to budge on their £25 million valuation.

The Old Lady (Juventus) also offered a lucrative deal which would raise his wages to £190,000-a-week plus add-ons but the striker turned his attention towards United hinting he would join United only if he receives a similar offer to Wayne Rooney's £220,000-a-week package.

Meanwhile, City boss Roberto Mancini was asked to offload his strike force to create funds and finance a deal Van Persie. But the champions did not follow up on their initial offer making rivals United favourites to sign the Gunner.

However, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was reluctant to sell the striker to rivals United. But growing concerns over fans fury over their former favourite forced Wenger to agree a deal. Moreover, the new signings of forward Oliver Giroud and Lukas Podolski made Van Persie's transfer more imminent.

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