Valencia set for Manchester re-signing

Manchester United chief executive David Gill has revealed that winger Antonio Valencia is set to agree a new contract with the club.

Gill claims Ecuador international Valencia has pledged to extend his current deal at Old Trafford, which is set to expire in two years.

The English Premier League champions are on a pre-season tour of North America, but Gill confirmed the club have been working behind the scenes to tie down their stars.

“We are in the process of finalising that,” Gill said when asked about Valencia’s contract.

“Antonio has been away at the Copa America and we’ve been away here in the US, but that’s broadly sorted out.”

“Antonio initially signed for four years, so he’s got two left. The length of the deal will come out as and when, but it’s a longer-term deal.”

“That should be announced next week, when we’re back.”

A new deal could yet be offered to striker Dimitar Berbatov, who was linked with a move away from United after being left out of the squad for the Champions League final against Barcelona in May.

And while Gill would not confirm if a new contract would be offered to Berbatov, he did claim United want to retain the 30-year-old’s services.

“There is an option to extend Dimitar’s contract by another year, on the club’s side,” Gill said.

“We can do it whenever we want to do it and there are no conditions around it.”

“Everyone has been talking about Berbatov from the outside, saying he wants to leave or that we want him to leave, but we don’t want him to go.”

“We want him to stay. He scored over 20 goals last season, so there is no desire on our behalf to see him go. From our perspective he has, effectively, two years to go.”

“We have until the end of the season (to extend his contract), so we can assess how it goes, talk to him, see how he performs and see what happens.”

“I’ve not had one conversation with Dimitar (about his future). There has been no correspondence in that respect.”

“The decision Alex took (leaving Berbatov out of the Champions League final) was a decision he took for that particular game.”

“It wasn’t a decision taken with a view that we want Dimitar to go, because we don’t.”