Valencia boss Mauricio Pellegrino has asked his board for cash to sign Espanyol attacking midfielder Joan Verdu, reports Tuttomercato.
Pellegrino is understood to have met the club’s hierarchy a week ago as they sought explanations for the poor start to the season, with the Argentine informing them he needed reinforcements in the January transfer window.
One of these is believed to be Verdu who, Espanyol picking up their only win of the campaign against Rayo Vallecano last week, has been showing some of the best form of his career and notched a brace against the Madrid outfit.
Verdu has put talks of a new contract with the Catalans on the back burner until the club reaches a position of relative safety, and this has alerted Pochettino who sees him as the ideal person to fill a position in which his team falls short.
Los Che have an array of exciting midfielders such as Ever Banega, Fernando Gago and Tino Costa, but none that acts as a direct link with their attack and 29-year-old Verdu appears to fit the bill.
For the Barcelona-born player to come to Mestalla, it would be more than likely Pellegrino would need to sacrifice one of his central midfielders, with Dani Parejo seeming the likely candidate.
