Mendieta eyes Real move

Valencia's Gaizka Mendieta broke his silence on Sunday and hinted he could soon be leaving The Mestalla, and described Real as a 'great team'.

Mendieta held a low-key press conference at the Palace Hotel in Valencia, where he finally came clean about his plans for the future.

Mendieta said: "My preference at the moment is to stay at Valencia, which wouldn't be a bad thing. But the idea of leaving to improve certain aspects of my game is something that also interests me, and if I do go then it will be because the time is right."

In the chase to sign Mendieta are Real Madrid and Italian giants Lazio.

Mendieta is believed to want to stay in Spain and would find it hard to turn down the chance to play with Spanish champions Real.

"The chance to play alongside great players is always tempting," he said. "Real Madrid have a great team and any player would want to play for them, it's important that you have the chance to win something every season."

The Basque midfielder ended by saying that he expected to receive an offer by the end of the week.
"I will be keeping my options open until the new season starts at the end of August, and if nothing arrives before Thursday then I will be taking part in the pre-season with Valencia."

Mendieta has improved greatly in recent seasons and was a key figure in the Che's progress to two consecutive Champions League finals, where they lost to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

If Mendieta were to leave, it would be a major blow to Valencia's new coach Rafael Benitez, who has taken over from Hector Cuper after the Argentine coach left for Inter Milan.