The Portugal winger could find first-team football harder to come by at Old Trafford this season after the arrivals of Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa.

"The news about Nani is true," Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti said on Friday.

"Everything will depend on how much players cost 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."

Meanwhile, young Chilean striker Angelo Henriquez is to join United, his club Universidad de Chile announced in a statement on Friday.

"Angelo Henriquez will join Manchester United this month," said Universidad de Chile, the 2011 winners of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's equivalent of the Europa League.

The talented 18-year-old will join United for a fee of US$5.5 million (RM17.6 million ), after undergoing a medical in England this week, and will become the first Chilean ever to play for the Old Trafford club.

Henriquez first came to the attention of United when he was playing in the Chilean capital club's youth system.

Henriquez made his Chilean league debut this year, scoring 10 goals in 15 games, while he also netted four times in this year's Libertadores Cup. Daily Mail/AFP