Manchester United are lining up a move for Sevilla's
prolific striker Luis Fabiano. United's European scout Martin
Ferguson has watched the Brazilian several times this season and,
as Sportsmail revealed in January, recommended that his
brother Sir Alex signs him.
Chief scout Jim Lawlor has added his support and coach Mike
Phelan went to Spain to watch the 27-year-old during Sevilla's 3-0
win over Racing Santander on Wednesday.
Manchester City, Tottenham, Real Madrid and Roma have all
expressed strong interest but United look to be at the head of the
queue for a striker who has scored 33 goals in 38 games this
season.
Fabiano's future at Sevilla has been the subject of speculation
for some time because of a wrangle over his three-party ownership
and buy-out clause. Sevilla, who are in fifth place and struggling
to qualify for the Champions League, claim it would cost £44million
to sign Fabiano, but the player and sources close to the club
believe the fee would be only £7m.
Fabiano's price means United would still have the resources to
strengthen elsewhere. They maintain an interest in Spurs' Dimitar
Berbatov but have reservations about his workrate, while they are
still keen to recruit a right-sided midfielder and a full-back.
Wigan's Luis Valencia is an option as is Manchester City's Micah
Richards, who fears he could be sold this summer to boost City's
spending power. United hope to raise more funds by offloading Louis
Saha and Gerard Pique, who wants to return to Spain.