Manchester United transfer news: United on the brink of signing David De Gea as Ferguson lines up bid for Uruguayan goal machine

Manchester United are said to be on the brink of signing highly rated Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea for around £18m from Atletico Madrid. The need to sign a top goalkeeper this summer has been made all the more important following Ed van der Sar's retirement at the end of the season and Sir Alex Ferguson sees the Spaniard as the long term successor to the Dutchman.

David De Gea had confirmed that he is edging closer to a deal with Manchester United with terms set to be discussed by the end of the week. De Gea was in Manchester yesterday for a medical with a deal reported to be worth around £18m for the player expected to be completed by the end of the week.

On his personal twitter page, David de Gea wrote: 'I have been invited by Man U to see the club and the City with my family and to be given an offer.' It is expected that Sir Alex Ferguson will give the Spaniard a personal tour of the club before they it down to negotiate the terms of the contract.

The reported £18m transfer from Atletico Madrid has been touted for some time but was put on hold as de Gea helped Spain to the under-21 European Championship glory. Sir Alex Ferguson is set to make the highly rated but inexperienced goalkeeper the long term successor to Edwin van der Sar. The Manchester United manager has been chasing de Gea for a whole and it appears that he has now got his man.

Reports in Naples suggest that Manchester United are lining up an offer to tempt Edinson Cavani to Old Trafford. Martin Ferguson has been scouting the player for a number of months and Manchester United are now set to make a mega offer for the striker. Manchester United have shown this summer that they are in a position to spend big and are willing to offer Napoli up to £40m to tempt the striker away from a move to neighbours Manchester City. Naples sources say United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will tie a deal up to sign David de Gea and then focus his attention on bolstering his forward line with Dimitar Berbatov set to leave Old Trafford.

Agent Pierpaolo Triulzi has left the door open for a bid from Manchester United by saying: His is a beautiful story. Edi hopes to spend another year like the one just concluded. "Despite the great interest from Spain and England, he is happy to be in Naples. But in the future you never know ..."