Valencia: Caught the eye at the JJB.
Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan has confirmed that
Manchester United have made a series of bids for Ecuador winger
Antonio Valencia
and he expects another cash offer to arrive shortly.
United, who accepted a world-record £80m bid from Real Madrid
for
Cristiano Ronaldo
on Thursday, are in the market for a replacement for the
Bernabeu-bound World Player of the Year and Valencia is one of the
names on their hit-list.
"They (United) have been in touch with us and we will be
starting negotiations very shortly, I would imagine," Whelan told
Sky Sports News.
"I think they were waiting to see if Ronaldo actually went to
Real, which has happened. Things will develop over the next seven
to 14 days.
"United have been in touch with us over Antonio for the last two
or three months, expressing an interest and actually putting cash
offers on the table."
A figure of around £15m is expected to be enough to secure the
services of the 23-year-old winger, but Whelan added that his club
are not resigned to losing Valencia just yet.
The Wigan chief said: "We are not desperate to sell Antonio, I'm
telling you. If I can keep that lad, I'm going to keep him. He is
one brilliant player."