• Midfielder to head for the exit at Valencia
• Manchester City and Chelsea favourites for signature
David Silva, the Spain international midfielder, has had a change of mind about moving to England and is deliberating whether to choose Manchester City or Chelsea amid firm interest from both clubs.
Silva’s reluctance to leave Spain was described as unflinching when City opened formal talks with Valencia at the end of last season but the player has gradually come round to the idea of playing in the Premier League, not least because of the realisation that Real Madrid’s new manager, José Mourinho, is not keen on recruiting him.
Barcelona also have other targets, having already signed David Villa from Valencia, and Silva is now left with a choice of remaining at Valencia or moving to England. His representatives have informed Valencia in the last 48 hours that he would like to take the option of a transfer.
That now boils down to a straight choice between City or Chelsea depending on a financial arrangement being agreed with his current club. That, however, is proving far from straightforward, with Valencia asking around €40m (£33.2m), a fee that is considered exorbitant at Eastlands and Stamford Bridge.
City were the first club to register an official interest in the 24-year-old and have the financial power to offer more than Chelsea in terms of both the transfer fee and the player’s salary, which currently stands at £3m a year and could easily be doubled if he were to join Roberto Mancini’s team. Chelsea, however, have the lure of playing in the Champions League next season and of joining a club that has just deposed Manchester United as champions.
Silva is described as open-minded but it is understood he marginally favours Chelsea on the basis that City’s reputation in Spain is not yet of one of Europe’s more powerful clubs, at least not in football terms. The likelihood is that he will wait until after the World Cup in case a good tournament persuades Madrid or Barcelona to look into his availability.
City’s pursuit of Silva partly originates from their knowledge that two of their more creative players, Robinho and Stephen Ireland, both want to leave the club this summer. Robinho, one of Brazil’s more impressive players in the 2-1 defeat of North Korea, has made it clear he does not want to return to Manchester when his loan arrangement with Santos expires on 4 August and his representatives are due to meet the City chief executive, Garry Cook, to make that official. That meeting was due to take place today but will now be held next week.
Manchester CityChelseaSpainTransfer windowValenciaDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk
