Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that the club are in talks with Sao Paolo over the transfer of highly rated teenager Lucas Moura.
Moura, 19, has been attracting interest from a range of clubs including Real Madrid and Inter Milan but United have managed to leapfrog them in the race to his signature. Fergie had sent his chief scout Jim Lawlor to Brazil to thrash out a deal for the exceptionally talented attacker and seems to have gained an edge over the rest.
“We haven’t reached an agreement,” said Ferguson from China, where United are on the latest leg of their pre-season tour.
“We’ve shown interest. Until such time we reach an agreement we can’t say he’s ours.”
United have had a previous offer rejected by Sao Paolo President and are believed to preparing a final offer close to £30m.
The gaffer also revealed that the 19 time English champions are doing their utmost to sign wantaway Arsenal forward Robin Van Persie after admitting having made a bid last week.
“At this moment we’re looking at other options in terms of bringing other players in,” he said.
“We’re not lying on our backsides doing nothing. We’re trying hard to bring other players to the club.”