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Paris Saint-Germain are close to securing the signature of Fabinho – a long standing transfer target for Manchester United , Manchester City and Champions League finalists Juventus.

The Qatar-owned club, which is determined to re-establish itself as the dominant force in French football, has aggressively progressed a deal to take the versatile Brazil international from AS Monaco, who recently deposed PSG as French champions.

Although Fabinho has publicly expressed his interest in working with Jose Mourinho at United, the player was not the Portuguese's preferred option to reinforce at midfield or at full back.

While Fabinho was on a long list of proposed signings drawn up by the manager ahead of this summer's transfer window, multiple sources have told Record Sport Online that PSG's attempt to secure the player is considerably more advanced.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images) (Image: REUTERS)

Mourinho and United's transfer market strategy has been driven by the extensive list of potential new players put together by the Old Trafford manager well before his Europa League and League Cup winning first campaign at the club came to an end.

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It includes at least three options for each defensive, midfield and attacking positions Mourinho wants to (or in case of goalkeeper) might be forced to recruit in ahead of a season in which United will return to Champions League competition.

Though Mourinho has further involved himself in the recruitment process by contacting some of his targets, he has deliberately handed over responsibility for assessing salary demands and discussing transfer fees over to executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

(Image: PA)

Wary of past transfer-market failures, Woodward and his assistant Matthew Judge have been charged with putting groundwork in place for multiple players in each position before a final decision on which to sign is made according to cost and availability.

An example of the process is the recent addition of Sweden international Victor Lindelof from Benfica for an initial fee of €35m. Before concluding the deal for Lindelof, United had negotiated financial terms with alternative central defenders, including Burnley's Michael Keane.

With their provisional contract offer surpassing the terms available at other English suitors, including Liverpool and Everton, and the opportunity to return to the club where he had made his senior debut appealing to Keane, the 24-year-old was expected to join United.

Instead, a deal for Lindelof - a player Mourinho had asked for in the winter window and who was higher on his voluminous recruitment list – was concluded.

(Image: Reuters)

Ranked amongst Mourinho's midfield targets is Nemanja Matic, however a deal for the powerful Serb is dependent on a complex negotiation with Chelsea.

Antonio Conte, who as Record Sport Online reported earlier this month, has threatened to resign his position if his own transfer plans are not met, does not want to allow Matic to leave unless two new central midfielders are brought to Stamford Bridge.

Though Chelsea have agreed a fee of €40m with Monaco for Tiemoue Bakayoko (another midfielder admired by Mourinho), their unsettled Italian coach also wants a dynamic box-to-box midfielder such as AS Roma's Radja Nainggolan.

It remains unclear how much Chelsea's hierarchy are prepared to invest in recruitment to head off the threat of losing another title winning manager.

PSG want Fabinho as a replacement for Marco Verratti, their high-energy Italy midfielder who is agitating for an exit from the Parisian club amidst strong interest from Barcelona. They have hope to take advantage of other suitors' reluctance to meet Monaco's €45million asking price for Fabinho.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, City have stepped away from their initially enthusiastic efforts to recruit a player who has flourished at Champions League level operating both in central midfield and at full back.

City are currently talking with Dani Alves - who on Tuesday secured his release from Juventus - while simultaneously seeking to gazump Chelsea's attempt to buy the Italians' starting left back, Alex Sandro.

Juve say that they recently terminated their own interest in Fabinho in favour of less expensive full back options, including Italy internationals Matteo Darmian and Mattia De Sciglio.

To explain their failure to secure Fabinho's signature, Juve officials indicated that the player had agreed to join United, an idea lent credence by an interview in his native Brazil in which the player talked about his desire to be reunited with Mourinho, the coach who signed him for Real Madrid as a teenager.