Manchester United could be set to lose out on a significant transfer fee as young defender Ezekiel Fryers appears set to join Standard Liege.

The defender actually left Manchester United in the summer after refusing to sign a new contract with the club, and has since spent some time training with Tottenham during pre-season.

United did not want to lose the 19-year-old, but after he refused to put pen-to-paper on a new contract it seemed they would at least get a fee through a tribunal as he did come through the youth.

Ezekiel Fryers
Fryers is on the verge of joining Standard Liege [Reuters]

The Daily Mail is reporting that if Tottenham had decided to offer the defender a contract then they would have had to pay in the region of £6million to United.

However, should he choose to join Standard Liege then the compensation fee would be far lower as he would not be playing for a direct competitor.

Sir Alex Ferguson was extremely unhappy with the situation as Fryers was the third high profile youngster who had decided to leave the club after Ravel Morrison joined West Ham and Paul Pogba left for Juventus.

"We haven't heard anything from Zeki Fryers," admitted Ferguson over the summer "I don't know what's happening there but he's not been in touch with the club."

The decision of Fryers to not renew his contract came as a surprise, especially when Manchester United struggled to find fit defenders for their first Premier League game of the season against Everton.

According to the report in the Mail, Fryers has today flown out to Belgium to meet with officials from Standard Liege as he attempts to begin his senior football career.

Fryers, who can play at centre-back or left-back, had made six appearances since graduating from the youth academy at United as well as representing England at various youth levels throughout his early career.