Manchester United are understood to have found a replacement for Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in the shape of Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels.
The Daily Mail reports that the Red Devils have agreed a fee with the Bundesliga club to sign the 2014 World Cup winner for a fee of around £16m.
This is something of a bargain price for a 25-year-old who is considered to be among the best centre-backs in world football currently and could be in the United XI for years to come.
New manager Louis van Gaal is a big admirer of Hummels and sees the Germany international as the ideal man to come in and fill the void left by Ferdinand and Vidic.
Both defenders departed Old Trafford this summer when their contracts expired, with the captain heading to Inter Milan and the former England international deciding to stay in the Premier League with newly promoted QPR.
This leaves van Gaal with only Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling as options at the back and there are doubts of the capabilities of all three.
Therefore at least one new central defender is expected to be signed this summer and Hummels has been top of the wishlist for some time.
Chief executive Ed Woodward has flown back from United’s current pre-season tour of the USA for ‘general business reasons’ and many people believe this is a sign of imminent new arrivals such as the German.