Manchester United have identified Nani, the Portuguese
winger, for one of three major end-of-season transfers. Owen
Hargreaves is a long-standing target and Sir Alex Ferguson's other
priority will be to bring in a striker to fill the void left by
Henrik Larsson's return to Helsingborg in nine days'
time.
In total, United could spend in excess of £60m in the summer, a
figure that may be dramatically offset if Real Madrid or Barcelona
manage to prise Cristiano Ronaldo away from Old Trafford, with a
fee of around £45m under discussion. Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted
that Ronaldo is not for sale but it remains to be seen whether the
Glazer family could turn down an offer in that region and United's
interest in Nani will inevitably raise questions about whether he
has been targeted as a possible replacement.
Nani, like Ronaldo, has come to Ferguson's attention because of a
succession of illuminating displays for Sporting Lisbon, the club
that has also produced Luis Figo, Simao Sabrosa and Ricardo
Quaresma.
Carlos Queiroz, Ferguson's Portuguese assistant, has followed
Nani's career since his early days in Sporting's youth academy,
becoming a regular visitor at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, and United
have now registered a firm interest in bringing the 20-year-old to
Old Trafford in the summer. It is understood informal talks have
been going on since the turn of the year.
United are likely to face competition from several other clubs -
Lyon are also confirmed admirers - but United have a feeder
agreement with Sporting dating back to Ronaldo's £12m transfer in
2003 and they hope to capitalise on the Portuguese club's financial
problems by not having to pay an exorbitant fee.
The matter is complicated because Nani is currently going through a
legal dispute to sever his ties with his agent, Ana Almeida, and
sign for Jorge Mendes. Worryingly for United Mendes also acts as
Jose Mourinho's agent and there is bound to be concern within Old
Trafford that the player will also be offered to Chelsea, who have
a habit of gazumping United's deals, most notably Michael Ballack
from Bayern Munich and Arjen Robben from PSV Eindhoven. Mendes is
generally viewed with suspicion at United because another of his
clients, Ronaldo, is constantly linked to Barcelona and Real
Madrid.
Sporting have a reputation as a selling club and the indications
from Lisbon last night were that they would not stand in Nani's
way, providing a satisfactory fee could be agreed. The club are
trying to rush through a new contract with him, one that will
include a buy-out clause set at £20m.
At present, Nani is one of the lowest-paid players at Sporting and
his contract, which runs until 2010, stipulates he can leave for
£13.4m. Nani has made it clear he wants to play for a major club
and it would significantly help United in the negotiating process
if he chose not to accept Sporting's improved terms.
Ferguson is already convinced that Hargreaves will join in the
summer, almost a year after United first confirmed their interest
in the Bayern Munich midfielder. After that, a new striker must be
found, with renewed speculation in the Spanish media this week
about Fernando Torres of Atletico Madrid. United are also
monitoring the potential availability of Samuel Eto'o from
Barcelona, the Cameroonian striker having complained about feeling
unwanted at Camp Nou.
