Manchester United Make Revised £30m Bid For Fabregas

Manchester United have made a second bid for Barcelona and Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

United confirmed a £25m offer for the 26-year-old last Monday and have increased that to £30m plus add-ons, with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward leading negotiations.“As I understand it, Ed had a response [to the first bid],” said Moyes at a news conference in Yokohama.

“We have made a second offer, but Ed is dealing with it rather than me.”

The Scot added: “When you’re interested in good players, you want to give it every opportunity to materialise – and I’ll do that.“I hope things can continue and move forward. At this moment in time, I can only tell you that Ed is working hard trying to make the deals happen. We can only hope that some of them fall into place shortly.”

Two days after United’s initial offer was confirmed, Woodward returned from the Australia leg of their pre-season tour to attend to urgent transfer business.

Barcelona have not made any official comment, but the situation has reportedly been complicated  by the managerial vacancy created at the Nou Camp by Tito Vilanova’s decision to step down because of ill health.It is not clear whether Chelsea’s pursuit of United striker Wayne Rooney has any bearing on the club’s attempts to sign Fabregas.

The Spaniard came through Barcelona’s La Masia academy before Arsenal signed him as a 16-year-old in 2003.He developed as one of the London club’s key players under manager Arsene Wenger before becoming Arsenal captain in November 2008.

Fabregas spent eight years with the Gunners, playing 303 games and scoring 57 goals, but returned to Barcelona in a five-year deal worth £25.4m in 2011 and has helped them win the Copa del Rey in 2011-12 and La Liga in 2012-13.

Fabregas has played 96 times in two seasons with Barcelona, including 60 league games, but has rarely featured in his preferred midfield role, with Xavi, 33, and Andres Iniesta, 29, ahead of him.He has made 83 appearances for Spain, winning the 2010 World Cup and the European Championship twice.

In addition to Fabregas, United have a reported interest in Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Tottenham attacker Gareth Bale.

Left-back Leighton Baines and midfielder Marouane Fellaini, both of whom worked under Moyes at Everton, have also been linked with moves to Old Trafford – where the transfer record remains the £30.75m they paid Tottenham for striker Dimitar Berbatov in 2008.

But none of those moves have materialised as yet and when asked if he appreciated why some United fans were becoming anxious, Moyes replied: “I can understand that feeling.“But there have been quite a few changes. Other managers have changed their clubs, too, and everybody thought this might be the summer when transfers are done later in the month.“That was always the thought I had when I came into the club. You have to remember I only started on 1 July, so in truth I have only been in the job three weeks at this present time.”