Valencia have conceded they may have to sell key duo David Villa and David Silva amid talk Manchester United are ready to reignite their interest in the pair.

The Spanish outfit have long-since been troubled financially but managed to fend off numerous suitors in the summer.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are known to be monitoring the situation closely, while in England the likes of United and Liverpool are thought to have registered tentative interest in the past.

Rafa Benitez has always been a fan of Silva but the financial problems at Anfield are likely to prohibit any deal.

Over at Old Trafford his counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson is not hamstrung in the same way, with the £80million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo meaning there is still a sizeable budget to play with.

While in the past Ferguson has stated he is content with the options already available to him, there have been rumours he may open the chequebook in the January transfer window.

Villa has previously indicated he would prefer to stay in Spain if he ever to leave Valencia, while Silva admitted in September that he had been the subject of a big bid from England in the summer.

Whether United, or indeed Liverpool, will make an offer in January is open to conjecture but it would seem Valencia are ready to discuss a possible sale.

Valencia sporting director Fernando Gomez told Las Provoncias TV: "If there was a moment that arrived that we cannot stand it any more, then of course we must sell and they [Villa & Silva] would be sold.

"We made a great effort in the summer to keep them, but if the economic situation continues, then things could become very serious.

"Still it was a success for us to keep them, because there was some large money offered to us."

Gomez stopped short though of saying a fresh offer had already been submitted, as he added: "We have not received an official offer for either Villa or Silva. I only know what has been said in the papers."