Antonio Valencia will become a Manchester United player within the next 48 hours — and possibly on the same day that the man he is being signed to replace is officially announced as a Real Madrid player.

And that will allow United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to close in on his next targets.

The Equadorian striker will join United from Wigan Athletic for a fifth of the £80million they received for Cristiano Ronaldo after completing a medical yesterday.

And with Madrid understood to have lodged the entire fee for Ronaldo in Manchester United’s bank account, they aren’t expecting any last minute hitches in the Portuguese star’s switch to the Bernabeu.

Ferguson may have to spend a further £30 million to get his hands on Lyon’s Karim Benzema, but will still have plenty of change from the Ronaldo move.