Manchester United are ready to
reject a fresh Juventus approach for their out of favour Portugal winger Nani.
The Serie A champions are preparing
a loan offer for the 27-year-old, who has made just three Premier League
appearances this season, but Goal understands United will not let Nani
leave on a temporary basis.
Despite topping their domestic
league, Juve coach Antonio Conte is unhappy with his preferred 3-5-2
formation and wishes to permanently switch to a 4-3-3 system by signing a
right-sided outside forward.
Having been linked with Parma
wideman Jonathan Biabiany and Paris Saint-Germain's Jeremy Menez, Goal can
confirm that Juventus are readying a six-month loan offer for the United man.
The Turin outfit are willing to
match Nani’s £95,000-a-week salary until the end of the season and secure an
option to make the transfer permanent in June.
Publicly, Manchester United have no
intention of selling the 27-year-old but could be tempted if Juventus tabled a
big-money bid. A loan offer is unlikely to be entertained.
Conte has long been an admirer of
the Portuguese winger and in one of his first press conferences as coach in
2011 bemoaned the fact that Juventus "don’t possess a player like Carlos
Tevez, Theo Walcott or Nani."
Tevez eventually joined Juventus
this summer from Manchester City, and Conte has now set his sights on Nani from
their cross-city rivals.
The winger arrived at Old Trafford
from Sporting in 2007, but has struggled for form, fitness and game time over
the last 18 months and was even booed by his own fans during the home game
against Stoke last month.
Nani only extended his United
contract until 2018 in September and cited new manager David Moyes as a key
reason for him inking a new deal.
"This summer was not easy but
after a lot of thought and talking to David Moyes I believe it [signing a new
contract] was the best solution," Nani explained.
"I feel I can offer many things
to United. I had other important offers yet without a sufficient challenge to
make me want to leave United."
Nani scored his first goal of
2013-14 during United’s 5-0 Champions League thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen in
midweek but has played just three league games this term.
However, with Wilfried Zaha likely
to go out on loan in January, the Premier League champions will not be easily
convinced to sell the Portuguese, whose attitude and professionalism has been
exceptional this season.