Jose Mourinho is hoping to make Fred his first signing of a busy summer as Manchester United move closer to securing an initial £44 million deal with Shakhtar Donetsk for the Brazil midfielder.

United are also hoping to take advantage of Mauricio Pochettino’s desire for Tottenham Hotspur to do their transfer business early in the pursuit of £50 million plus rated Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld.

Fred, 25, who is represented by Gilberto Silva, the former Arsenal midfielder, is due in the north west when Brazil play Croatia in a friendly at Anfield on Sunday week and Mourinho wants a deal wrapped up before the energetic defensive midfielder flies to Russia for the World Cup finals. The fee could top £50 million with add ons. Shakhtar have lined up Maycon from Corinthians as a replacement.

Manchester City had been the original frontrunners for Fred, who had set his sights on a move to the Premier League champions in January.

But City cooled their interest when United entered the bidding and Shakhtar inflated the price, prompting Etihad officials to eventually walk away and turn their attentions instead to Jorginho, Napoli’s Italy midfielder. City backed out of a deal for Alexis Sanchez in similar circumstances after balking at the sums involved before the Chile striker moved to Old Trafford from Arsenal in January.