Manchester United have made an offer for Robin Van Persie, although it is not believed to be sufficient to tempt Arsenal to sell. The London club want at least £20m for their captain, and United have not yet threatened that figure.

Manchester City and Juventus have also made their interest in Van Persie clear to Arsenal and the chase for his signature is hotting up. City must sell some of the strikers on their pay-roll before they can attempt to buy the Holland international.

Van Persie, who has 12 months to run on his Arsenal contract, has said that he will not agree to fresh terms as he feels that the club's ambitions do not match his own. The tremors from the statement that he released on 4 July continue to be felt, with Van Persie effectively driving his departure from the club that he joined in 2004 from Feyenoord. Arsenal have resigned themselves to losing him, albeit for a price that suits them.

Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, is finalising his squad for the club's far east tour; they depart on Saturday for Malaysia, although it is unlikely Van Persie will travel with his potential sale considered close.

Van Persie was in superb form for Arsenal last season, scoring 37 goals in all competitions. He was also named Professional Footballers' Association and Football Writers' player of the year.

Sao Paulo, meanwhile, have claimed that United have made a "very important offer of €35m" for their 19-year-old midfielder Lucas Moura, who is currently in England preparing for Brazil's Olympic gold medal bid.

Of Moura, who should face Stuart Pearce's Team GB side in Middlesbrough this evening in a pre-Games warm-up, Sao Paulo director Marco Aurelio Cunha told a local publication TMW: "Manchester United made a very important offer of €35m but they would need to produce a little mor. For us there is only Neymar worth more, after him is Lucas and we would not want to sell for less than this sort of value. For us it is still better to have a good player than lots of money in the bank."