Departing Sevilla sports chief Monchi says missing out on Robin van Persie was one of his biggest regrets.

Monchi says he had a deal with Feyenoord for the striker before Arsenal stepped in.

Asked about his most frustrating deals, he recalled: "(Nigel) De Jong was in Seville already knowing the city and when I traveled back to negotiate he told us that he was going to Hamburg.

"With Van Persie, when I was in Rotterdam to sign him and I went up to the hotel, in the end he received a call from Arsenal And went to Arsenal. And Marcelo ... it was Real Madrid who passed and took him."