Manchester United to make £40m bid for David Villa

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is on red alert to make a £40million bid for Spain striker David Villa after Barcelona opened the auction last night.

Fergie wants Villa above all other options as he looks to replace the lost goals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and he's poised to match any Barca offer.

The canny Old Trafford chief - back from a break in France - has been monitoring the Villa race since he sold Ronaldo and passed on Tevez. And now he's going in with a rival bid.

Real Madrid were redhot favourites for Villa a fortnight ago. But Valencia do not want to sell their star man to Florentino Perez's big spenders. Real have officially 'pulled out', although that may just be a tactic, and deadly rivals Barca have tabled a bid.

Hard-up Valencia are under pressure to sell and Ferguson is waiting to see their response, wary that Real are still the player's favoured move. United have kept their powder dry in the fortnight since Ronaldo's £80million sale to Real. But Villa, arguably the best striker of his type on the market, is top of Fergie's wish list and he has the cash to buy him and compete with Barca on wages.

As United only want two major players to come in he has permission to go in with a big bid. Villa flew back from the Confederations Cup yesterday keen to sort out his future and United hope they can speak to him next week - or at least have the chase resolved.

They will have to convince the player, though. He said recently: "Next season I will play in Spain because it is the league that is best for me."

David Villa profile: 10 Things you need to know about the Manchester United target

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