Zenit coach confirms interest in Nani

Moscow - Russian football champions Zenit St. Petersburg are interested in buying Manchester United midfielder Nani, Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti said.

“The news about Nani is true,” Spalletti said Friday.

“Everything will depend on how much the player costs because we won’t pay excessive amounts of money.”

When asked whether Zenit had made a bid, he said: “I’m not talking about an offer to a particular player, but an offer to a club.”

“If the club won’t sell a player, then there’s no thought of making an offer to the player himself.”

Last month, Spalletti named Hulk and Nani among a small number of players he believed could strengthen the team.

“We like both Hulk and Nani, we also like (Lionel) Messi,” he said Friday.

Zenit has other transfer targets, Spalletti added.

“We are not holding talks with one player, but with several. There are, for example, three names that I will not tell you.”

A statement on the Zenit Twitter account later quoted Spalletti as saying: “If you want another name, Afellay,” an apparent reference to Barcelona winger Ibrahima Afellay.

Zenit’s record signing is believed to be 30 million euros for Portugal midfielder Miguel Danny from Dynamo Moscow in 2008.

Nani joined United in 2007 and has played 195 games since then, scoring 46 goals and winning three English Premier League titles and the 2007-08 Champions League.