United agree Gaitan deal but won't announced yet?

• zocoss

  19 Feb 12, 00:36

  EXCLUSIVE: City plan £35m Benfica swoop

  

   

   

   

   

  Manchester City are ready to make a £35million bid for Benfica star Nicolas Gaitan.

  The Argentina international is also on Manchester United's radar, but City are hoping to beat their local - and title - rivals to his signature by simply out-bidding them.

  City officials are understood to have contacted their Benfica counterparts this week and made clear their desire to sign the 23-year-old attacking midfielder.

  Gaitan is viewed as one of the most exciting and dynamic young players in the world, and impressed in Benfica's Champions League encounters with United earlier this season.

  City had him watched in a recent Portuguese League Cup game against Maritimo, and football administrator Brian Marwood is understood to have begun the process of trying to formalise a deal with Benfica.

  United have been keeping tabs on Gaitan for the past year and had their scouts assess him last month, having also had him watched in games against Naval and Sporting Lisbon earlier this season.

  But with manager Sir Alex Ferguson understood to have been set a spending limit of around £30m to spend in the summer, Gaitan looks to be out of reach - unless he raises additional funds through player sales.

  Gaitan has a release clause of around £35m written into his contract and City are said to be willing to meet that figure in order to get their man.

  United may instead switch their attention to Gaitan's team-mate Javi Garcia, a more defensive-minded midfielder who also impressed in those Champions League games against the Reds.

• iceFatboy

  20 Feb 12, 13:52

  understand that MUFC has a gentleman's agreement with benifca over this fella. but of course, with big wads of cash, Mcity can blow any transfers out of the water.

• Jacky Woo

  10 Apr 12, 23:10

  is he a winger or a midfielder? united badly needed a creative midfielder, not wingers or strikers pls.

• The Card! 2012

  11 Apr 12, 13:55

  City got to understand that money doesn't buy Glory. Everyone seems to snatch all of United's targets of late. Nasri went to Man City, Henderson & Adam to Liverpool. But none of them are performing to expectation.

• zocoss

  13 Apr 12, 11:00

  United agree Gaitan deal - Report

  Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign Benfica midfielder Nicolas Gaitan this summer, according to reports in Portugal.

  

  Gaitan (left): United target

   

   

   

   

   

  Portuguese daily O Jogo reports United have verbally agreed a £22million deal for the Argentina star, with the Red Devils also set to include two young United players in the deal.

  O Jogo reports that two of Bebe, Federico Macheda and Davide Petrucci have been offered as part of the deal, which will not be announced until the end of the season.

  Manchester United's Portuguese scout Toninho Cruz has apparently sent a number of reports to Old Trafford on the highly-rated 24-year-old, who would provide the creative spark missed by United for much of the season before the return of veteran midfielder Paul Scholes in January.

  The total value of the deal is reportedly worth the 45million euros release clause in Gaitan's contract.

• PickaPock

  8 May 12, 18:54

  I would rather get Kagawa