Manchester United should finally complete their first signing of the summer on Monday after confirming a fee has been agreed with Tottenham for England midfielder Michael Carrick.
Carrick has been top of manager Alex Ferguson's shopping list since the end of last season and always remained optimistic he would get his man despite having a £10million offer rejected by Spurs just before the World Cup.
Ferguson stated firmly last week he was not prepared to pay "stupid money" for players, then confirmed he would be happy to start the new campaign with his existing squad.
However, with Ruud van Nistelrooy's move to Real Madrid now complete, United were able to increase their offer sufficiently to persuade Spurs to do the deal.
Providing there are no unexpected hitches over personal terms or a medical, the 25-year-old former West Ham star will complete his Old Trafford switch on Monday.
"Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur can confirm they have agreed terms for the transfer of Michael Carrick conditional on the player agreeing personal terms with Manchester United," a United statement read this evening.
"The player shall also be required to pass a medical, which will take place on Monday."
It means Carrick should make his first United appearance in next weekend's Amsterdam tournament, probably against Porto on Friday.
Further outings, in the second game against hosts Ajax, plus friendlies with Oxford and Sevilla are also possible before the player is pitched into the Red Devils' opening Premiership game against Fulham on August 20.
Tottenham head coach Martin Jol said: "This is a move that Michael wants to make. We have given him every reason to stay, but he has asked to be allowed to leave."
Although much has been made of United's dwindling attractiveness, the move, once the final transfer figure is made public, is likely to be at least the third, and possibly the second-biggest deal of the summer, trailing only the £29million Chelsea paid AC Milan for Andriy Shevchenko.
Desperate to mark his 20th anniversary as manager by wrestling the title from Stamford Bridge, Ferguson has also signalled the spending may not have stopped, even if a direct replacement for Van Nistelrooy is not now expected.
Ferguson has already signalled his intention to push Alan Smith back into a striker's role following a year long experiment in central midfield but it was still anticipated United would bring in an extra forward to provide competition for Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha.
Jermain Defoe was one of the players being strongly tipped to join United yet Ferguson rejected the idea he could try to poach two Tottenham players this summer.
"There has not been any interest from us (in Defoe)," Ferguson told MUTV. "As far as the Tottenham situation is concerned, we made a move for Michael Carrick - but that is all we did.
"He is the only Tottenham player we were interested in at the moment and I think it will stay that way."
Instead, it appears Ferguson is ready to place his trust in rising star Giuseppe Rossi to be United's fourth striker this term. Agencies
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