Valencia's expected five million euro deal to sign Racing de Avellaneda midfielder Rodrigo de Paul for next season has been criticised by local politician Alfonso Rus, who is involved with one of the groups currently trying to buy Los Che.
#INSERT type:image caption:Valencia remain up for sale. END#
The heavily indebted La Liga club remain up for sale, with three different bids -- those of Indonesian businessman Peter Lim, Chinese corporation Wanda and U.S. investment fund Cerberus Capital Management -- reportedly in the final reckoning.
Rus has previously held talks with Russian millionaire Mikhail Bosco, whose bid has apparently stalled, and is being managed by both Valencia and consultants representing lender Bankia.
While Los Che's future remains unclear, it emerged last week that a deal has been put in place to sign promising youngster De Paul, as the club's current directors -- who would reportedly remain in place should Lim's bid prove successful -- continue their planning for next season.
But Rus, the president of the Diputacion de Valencia -- Valencia's provincial council -- told Superdeporte that he did not understand why the club would commit to spending such money on a player given all the uncertainty.
"I do not understand how in this moment you can sign a player for five million euros for five seasons while you already have built up over 30 players, some spread out all over the world," Rus said.
That last phrase could be an allusion to Valencia signing defender Nicolas Otamendi from Porto in a deal worth 12 million euros in January, before immediately sending him out on loan to Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro due to an administrative mix-up.
Lim and Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes were reportedly involved in the Otamendi deal, with the pair also having made "investments" in promising Benfica pair Rodrigo and Andre Gomes during the most recent transfer window.
Some Los Che supporters hope these developments herald a new era of potential success at the Mestalla. However, the sale process has dragged on for over six months now, with deadlines for a decision to be made regularly passing without any new firm developments.
The deal for De Paul, 19, who reportedly prefers Los Che despite interest from Udinese, Inter Milan and Arsenal, cannot be fully completed until the summer's transfer window opens, by which time the Valencia sale may have finally gone through.
Racing president Victor Blanco told Ole last week that the details of the deal had already been put in place.
"The transfer of De Paul to Valencia has been closed for $6.5 million, plus 10 percent of a future sale," Blanco said.