MANCHESTER UNITED are ready to blow the opposition out of the water by launching a £30million deal to take Brazilian wonder kid Gabriel Barbosa to Old Trafford.
Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester thought they had won the race to sign the 19-year-old Santos striker, who has emerged as one of the hottest young properties in football after setting the Rio Olympics alight.
The Foxes were convinced they had beaten off Italian giants Inter Milan and Juventus, as well as Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, after the teenage striker told them he had his heart set on playing in the Premier League.
However SunSport can reveal Jose Mourinho is now in pole position to land the Samba superkid, with United set to push through a whopping £30million deal within the next 48 hours to outmuscle the reigning champions.
The Old Trafford giants need another striker to back up Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mourinho made it clear Barbosa is the perfect fit for his Reds revolution.
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The United boss will have the added satisfaction of knowing he has also beaten off his former club Chelsea, who were also interested in the Santos striker.
Barbosa’s form at the Rio Games has underlined why every top club in Europe wants him.
Now United have shot to the front of the chasing pack after agreeing to pay Santos £26million for the player – plus a £4million commission fee to his agent.
The news will come as a kick in the teeth to Ranieri, who was ready to smash Leicester’s record transfer fee again to land Barbosa – who has been dubbed the new Neymar in his homeland.
However once the player heard United were serious, his head was turned and he made it clear he wants to move to Old Trafford.
Santos president Modesto Roma has held talks in London with representatives of Premier League clubs whilst also holding discussions in Madrid with Atletico Madrid.
United looked out of it after the Santos chief dug his heels in and refused to let them pay the fee in four instalments.
However we can reveal United chief Ed Woodward is now willing to meet Santos halfway to pull off his latest transfer coup for Mourinho.
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