Valencia pull out of race to sign Manchester United target Lassana Diarra

Valencia have withdrawn their interest in Marseille midfielder and Manchester United target Lassana Diarra. The La Liga giants were believed to be close to doing a deal with L'OM but Diarra's wage demands proved to be a stumbling block.

Valencia had been in advanced talks with Marseille over the 31-year-old but were not prepared to meet his personal terms of around £50,000-a-week due to worries over his fitness. Los Che are in dire need of reinforcements this month; they are only six points off the relegation zone in La Liga.

The France international has not played for Rudi Garcia's side since 21 December and Foot Mercato claims the former Real Madrid star is looking to leave the Stade Velodrome this month. Manchester United are believed to be monitoring Diarra, along with clubs from the Chinese Super League.

Jose Mourinho worked with Diarra at Chelsea and Madrid and could look to add to his midfield ranks after selling forgotten man Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton in a deal that could rise to £24m. But the Portuguese does have a host of midfield options at his disposal at Old Trafford and there does not seem to be any pressing need to tinker with United's engine room.

Diarra and Mourinho did not see eye-to-eye during their time together at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Frenchman, who made 117 appearances for Madrid, regularly challenged the former Porto manager's authority in the Spanish capital and even questioned his tactical nous on a couple of occasions.

Diarra has a wealth of Premier League experience thanks to spells with Chelsea, Portsmouth and Arsenal. He seemed to have got his career back on track in Marseille last season after being suspended for 15 months due to a contractual dispute with former club Lokomotiv Moscow. Diarra was also fined £6.8m for breaching his contract with the Russian outfit but has since forced his way back into the France national team and was named in his country's Euro 2016 squad by Didier Deschamps.