Robin van Persie could leave Arsenal before the week's out

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger has said he wants to resolve the Robin van Persie issue quickly – even if it means the Dutchman leaving the Emirates this week, says the Daily Mail.

He will try to persuade Van Persie one more time to sign a new contract. But if face-to-face talks fail, then he will want to sell his star striker quickly so that he has enough time to reinvest the cash windfall of between £20 million and £30 million. Wenger is already looking at potential replacements, with Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetic and Borussia Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski being considered. Don't hold your breath.
 
Wenger himself was the subject of transfer speculation yesterday, with reports from France that the Arsenal manager had turned down the chance to become Brazil's national coach. Talksport reports that French paper La Parisien claims the Arsenal boss rejected a two-year contract with the Brazilian Football Confederation that would have started immediately and taken the side to the 2014 World Cup, to be held in Brazil.
 
Across London, Tottenham are close to signing highly-rated French national goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from Lyon – but they will have to stick another £3 million on top of their £12 million bid to seal the deal according to The Times. Lloris is said to have agreed to a deal to take him to White Hart Lane but is waiting for Andre Villas-Boas to sign off the increased offer.
 
Could Liverpool's out-of-favour Andy Carroll be on his way to east London rather than northern Italy? If reports in the Daily Mirror are to be believed, the big striker could be about to join his mentor and best friend Kevin Nolan at West Ham on a year-long loan deal next season – trumping a more likely move to AC Milan. The only stumbling block to Carroll joining Sam Allardyce's newly-promoted squad? The small matter of his £80,000-a-week loan salary.
 
AC Milan have meanwhile reignited their interest in Manchester City's Carlos Tevez, says Talksport. Despite making amends with Roberto Mancini, Tevez's future at the Etihad is still unclear, and Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport claims Milan have submitted a proposal to City after positive talks with the player's agent Kia Joorabchian.