Madrid bid for Valencia - agent - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Madrid bid for Valencia - agent

Wigan winger Antonio Valencia's agent has claimed Real Madrid have made the first move in the bid to sign the Ecuador international.

Manager Steve Bruce has conceded the 23-year-old, who has been attracting interest from bigger clubs for over year now, will leave the JJB Stadium this summer.

"I believe Wigan will sell Antonio for the right offer and they will decide that once they receive that," Valencia's agent Diego Herrera told skysports.com.

"Real Madrid made an offer last week, but nobody from Wigan has told me of an offer from Manchester United.

"There are a number of interested clubs and I will speak with Wigan about it this week.

"Once the season is over I expect offers to be made and I will sit down with Antonio and decide what offer is in his best interests."

Valencia is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and it seems unlikely he will be fit for the final match of the season at home to Portsmouth on Sunday.

But once the campaign is over Bruce will want to bring in as much as he can for the Ecuador international as soon as possible in order for him to begin adding to his squad.

A striker is a priority and Bruce has been linked with Christian Benitez, Valencia's Ecuador team-mate, although the £7million asking price from Mexican club Santos Laguna may prove prohibitive.

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