Valencia confirm Chelsea's Ayala interest

Valencia president Jaime Orti today claimed the Spanish club may be reluctant to sell the Argentinian international to Chelsea.

Orti confirmed the London club have enquired about the 30-year-old but said no deal has yet been struck after reports in Spain that an £8m (€11.7m) package had been agreed between the two clubs for a transfer in January.

“There is an interest in Ayala from Chelsea, however that doesn’t mean that Valencia want to sell the player,” Orti told PA International.

“We haven’t entered negotiations with them.”

Ayala has won 75 caps for Argentina and first played in Europe for Napoli before switching to AC Milan where he was a member of the squad that won the 1999 Scudetto under Alberto Zaccheroni.

In the summer of 2000 he moved to Valencia and featured in the team that reached the 2001 Champions League final, losing to Bayern Munich. He was also part of the Valencia team that won the Spanish title in 2002.

With Chelsea‘s French defender Marcel Desailly presently injured and, at 35, nearing the end of his career Ayala could be seen as the eventual replacement in central defence.

Meanwhile Desailly has confirmed his absence from France’s friendly with Germany in Gelsenkirchen on November 15.

The France captain injured his hip on October 6 during a charity match in Marseille and missed France‘s game with Israel and a month of Premiership action.

“I have started training again but I am still bothered by the blow,” said Desailly.

“Since I have been deprived of competition for one month I will not play against Germany.”