Man United suggest David Villa signing would not be good value
Thursday, August 6, 2009 @ 3:39 PM
The Scot has been linked with a move for the Spanish international thanks to the parlous financial state of his current employers. Valencia had agreed deals to sell him to both Real Madrid and Barcelona for around £43 million earlier this summer but both fell through after last-minute wrangles.
Villa featured for the first half of United’s 2-0 win over Valencia at Old Trafford last night but Gill insisted it was not an opportunity for Ferguson to run the rule over a potential target.
He said: “We’re not in the market for paying a lot of money for players who are 27, 28 or 29. We don’t think it’s good value. That would be their last contract and at the end of that contract they won’t be worth a lot of money. We’re happy to pay significant sums of money for players up to the age of about 25.”
Ferguson is also believed to be keen on Villa’s team-mate David Silva – impressive in the second half at Old Trafford and, at 23, eligible for the sort of significant outlay it would take to lure him away from the Mestalla – but Gill echoed his manager’s sentiments that he will make no further additions to his squad after the arrivals of Luis Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and Mame Biram Diouf, who will join his new team-mates from the Norwegian club Molde in January.
“I believe our spending is over for the summer. We’re pleased at the moment with the squad we have and a number of young boys are coming through – we have high hopes for Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck. That’s where we’re at, although it’s worth reiterating that people should trust Sir Alex when it comes to what the squad needs. Just because we have a lot of money in the bank, it doesn’t mean we have to spend it.”
Speaking to United’s website, Gill also confirmed that he had requested the £80m fee paid by Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo in an upfront, lump sum because of the global financial crisis.
“We didn’t want to sell, he wanted to leave, so we felt we had a strong negotiating position,” he said.
“Given what was going on in the financial world at the time I much preferred getting the money upfront as opposed to worrying about bank guarantees."
Source: The Telegraph