Report: Manchester United Willing to Sell Nani, Raise Funds for James Rodriguez Transfer

by Terra Sports on Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 1:25PM

Manchester United is willing to sell Portuguese midfielder Nani to help in the negotiations to acquire FC Porto winger James Rodríguez, British tabloid The Daily Star reports.

The Daily Star published Manchester United offered Nani a new deal but he refused to sign it — demanding more money. The Red Devils have decided to sell the player before his contract runs out in the summer of 2014 and would be willing to use the money obtained from the sale of the Portugal international in their attempt to acquire Rodríguez from Porto.

The Colombian international, currently in his third season with Porto, has become Sir Alex Ferguson's top target for either the winter or summer transfer windows and, according to Calciomercato, United would have to pay a sum of around 45 million euros ($58.4 million) for Rodríguez who arrived in Portugal from Argentina's Banfield for 5.1 million euros ($6.6 million).

Meanwhile, another British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, reports of interest from Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus. They would be willing to offer 12 million pounds ($19.4 million) for Nani, who has been an on-and-off starter this season and was left on the bench during the recent Premier League game against Chelsea.

Two weeks ago it was also rumored that Manchester United would be willing to include Mexican striker Javier 'Chicharito' Hernández in their bid for Rodridguez.

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