Manchester City's desire to land Radamel Falcao was handed a timely boost after Alvaro Negredo agreed to join Valencia on Sunday night.

The Premier League champions have been offered the Monaco forward and want to add him to their midst before the transfer window shuts on Monday, with Arsenal also keen but unlikely to win the race.

A meeting at Manchester City is underway, expected to ratify the transfer which is £25million plus add-ons of £2m - and City believe that is good business.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch City target Falcao score an acrobatic bicycle kick in training

And he's off: Alvaro Negredo has agreed a return to Spain with Valencia on loan with a view to a permanent

Incoming? The developments mean Manchester City have the means to land Radamel Falcao

Thumbs up: Falcao has also been offered to Arsenal and Manchester United as the deadline approaches

It is unlikely they will buy a striker to replace him as they believe they have enough cover.

City's pursuit was always dependent on whether they were able to recoup money for Negredo, who is set to join the La Liga side on loan with a view to a £20million move back to Spain.

The clubs are yet to finalise a deal, but Negredo has agreed to the move after Valencia president, Amadeo Salvo, director of football Francisco Rufete and Peter Lim's right-hand man at the club, Kim Koh, travelled to Madrid to meet face-to-face with the player's agents.

Their aim was to offer personal terms to the Spanish international and figure out how to get a deal done with Manchester City, with Negredo taking a pay cut to push through a transfer.

Manuel Pellegrini watched his City side uncharacteristically struggle going forward in the defeat against Stoke over the weekend and he would not rule out a move for Falcao afterwards.

Complications: Manuel Pellegrini spoke of the difficulties City have been enduring in the transfer market

Splurge: Manchester United aren't thought to be keen on Falcao after spending £60million on Angel di Maria

The manager spoke about having time to do business and added 'we will see what happens' after laying bare the problems they were finding in financing any potential deals. 'We have a restriction about the amount of money we can spend and the amount of players we can use,' Pellegrini said.

Financial Fair Play provides a huge stumbling block for City - who were fined £49million by UEFA in June for breaking monetary rules - and they always had to get the injured Negredo off the wage bill in order to finance a move; they also need to free up space in the squad for another foreign import.

That looked a tall order on Sunday morning, made worse by Falcao seemingly confirming he was leaving for Real Madrid on Twitter.

But Carlo Ancelotti instead moved to sign Manchester United's Javier Hernandez on loan on a fast-paced day before the deadline in which Falcao appeared to be offered to a plethora of clubs across Europe.

Negredo will remain at the Etihad Stadium should they fail to sort a deal out for the Colombian.