Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is preparing a £25 million January offer for Valencia wing ace David Silva.
The Sunday Express says Ferguson is ready to break a habit of not usually spending big midway through the season because he doesn't want to lose out on the attacking midfielder.
Ferguson came close to snapping up Silva in the summer only for the hard-up La Liga side to finally decide to turn down bids from United, Liverpool and Barcelona.
United have monitored Silva this season and have been given indications that Valencia are prepared to sell both Silva and his international team-mate David Villa to help reduce substantial debts which have placed the future of the club in doubt.
But Ferguson knows that if he doesn't tie up a deal in January then the chances are that Silva's value will soar in the summer if Spain have a successful World Cup tournament.
The United boss has the £80m from Cristiano Ronaldo's sale to Real Madrid burning a hole in his pocket.
