Manchester United are anxious
about avoiding an auction for Wigan Athletic winger Luis Antonio
Valencia.
The Daily Mail says United are ready to battle
Real Madrid for
Valencia — but are reluctant to
pay the £16million asking price.
Real made a £21.5m bid last month for the Ecuador international
and that offer still stands despite their ongoing interest in
Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
United, however, are confident in the knowledge that Valencia,
23, wants to join them and save himself from uprooting to move to
Spain.
The one problem is that despite an agreement in principle being
made between the clubs in December, United scouts have not been
wholly impressed by Valencia's performances in the second half of
the season and they don't believe £16m represents value for
money.
It may mean new Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will have to
strike a bargain to include a makeweight coming to Wigan unless he
can persuade United to improve their offer.
Valencia's agent Diego Herrera said: "I cannot confirm the news
that Manchester and Madrid have made bids because I haven't spoken
with Wigan yet. But I will be in touch with them at the start of
the week, hopefully on Monday. Of course this is great news because
it is the right moment for Antonio Valencia to join a bigger club
and start a new challenge with a great team.
"He has proved himself in The Premier League with Wigan and is
definitely good enough to make the step to something bigger. They
are both great football clubs and making a decision is tough. At
the end of the day, you have to consider both offers because they
are massive clubs."