Manchester City's prospects of enticing David Villa and David Silva to the Premier League have improved after Valencia's new chief executive, Javier Gómez, admitted the club may have no option but to sell their prized assets this summer.
The City manager, Mark Hughes, identified the Valencia pair as his prime targets for the recent January transfer window, ahead of the abortive attempt to sign Kaka in a world record deal from Milan, only for negotiations to break down over the Spanish club's exorbitant asking price. A City delegation met Valencia officials in December with a view to a combined £100m deal for the Spain internationals but withdrew from talks when the financially-stricken club insisted on £135m.
An added complication for City, at least in the case of the much coveted Villa, was the striker's insistence that he would rather extend his contract with Valencia than leave the Mestalla Stadium for the Premier League. That stance may now be challenged from within Valencia, however, after Gómez admitted the club's financial excesses could not continue.
"The club is in a very delicate situation," he said. "It has to control spending, grow income and sell assets." When asked if that included player sales, the chief executive responded: "Obviously, we will consider that type of action. We have to control costs and the biggest cost in a football club is maintaining a team."
Gómez's promotion to chief executive had itself increased the prospect of Valencia selling both Villa and Silva, who attracted interest from Chelsea and Liverpool before City's new-found wealth dramatically raised the Spanish club's asking price. The new CEO was appointed following a board meeting yesterday and, according to reports in Spain, arrives with the full backing of Bancaja. The Spanish bank is Valencia's major creditor and is owed €240m (£214m) out of the club's total debt of almost €450m.
Valencia's financial predicament has resulted in players being unpaid, with reports claiming they are owed a total of €15m in wages, while plans to help finance a move to a new stadium by selling the land around the Mestalla have not come to fruition. Construction work on the 75,000-seater stadium, originally scheduled for completion this May, has now stopped.
Gómez added: "Before, we had a plan that was based purely on selling the land – now we need to seek alternatives. We need to win back credibility with the financial institutions." The new CEO was unable to confirm when the money owed to players would be paid.
