Manchester United officials will travel to France this weekend as they close in on the signing of Rennes defender Julien Escude.
The 22-year-old revealed at the end of last month that he was aware of interest from United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
"We have not received any offer from Manchester United concerning Julien Escude," said Rennes communication manager Jerome Poupard.
"But they asked us to meet on Sunday and, as we are polite people, we have accepted."
Escude joined Rennes from Cannes in 1999 and has been a regular in the first team since, also earning France under-21 honours.
But last month he hinted that he would be prepared to move to the Premiership with United.
"Manchester United are interested," he said at the time. "I have had contacts with Alex Ferguson. I wanted to know what he expected from me and what he was intending to do.
"I am ambitious and I want to keep progressing, play in the Champions League and win titles."
PA