Real Madrid has resigned itself to the fact that it will not be able to recruit French international Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich this season due to the German club's intransigence, Real director general Jorge Valdano says. “We have the feeling that Ribery will not quit Bayern this season,” he told radio Marca late Tuesday. “Bayern finds many ways to say no, sometimes saying it categorically, sometimes by talking of a transfer fee of 80 million euros, which is another way of saying no,” he added. “So it is with resignation that we will wait for another opportunity which will certainly come. He has two years left on his contract with Bayern, and well, life is long,” Valdano said. German daily tabloid Bild reported on Tuesday that Bayern had set a price tag of 80 million euros on the 26-year-old midfielder and had given Real until July 16 to decide if they are ready to stump up the cash or not. Arsenal ties up Van Persie Arsenal has tied Robin van Persie to a new contract to the Premier League club and rejected fund-raising proposals to strengthen the squad with big-money signings. The 25-year-old Netherlands striker, who was Arsenal's top scorer last season with 20 goals in 44 games, has signed a long-term deal, the club said on Wednesday, without giving details. Retaining talent like Van Persie will be Arsenal's priority, with chief executive Ivan Gazidis cautioning Wednesday against buying players in an “inflated transfer market” to end the club's four-year trophy drought. Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is not on Arsenal's board despite owning 25 percent of the Gunners, had been willing to underwrite a share issue that would have raised funds to reduce the debt and add to the transfer budget. But Gazidis said the policy of self-financing – reaffirmed by the board – was “very efficient.”
