Shinji Kagawa has pace, a trick and can score. In addition – and vitally – he fits the profile of a current Sir Alex Ferguson buy: he is relatively modestly priced at around £17.5m and at 23 he has the youth to improve.

Conversely, this is what concerns Manchester United fans. The summer transfer season's first marquee signing was lost when Eden Hazard decided Chelsea's new status as London's first kings of Europe trumped United's pedigree of 19 titles and three European Cups. While Hazard is heralded as Europe's most exciting prospect there is nothing Hollywood about Kagawa, for the moment at least.

In a side deposed as English champions, Kagawa may offer what Ferguson has missed since Paul Scholes retreated to the quarterback's role and Cristiano Ronaldo took his menace to Real Madrid: an attacking force from central midfield.

A glance at Kagawa's YouTube best bits shows a player comfortable out wide or centrally and whose burst of pace could provide the spark that United miss between the flanks. Kagawa is a two-time Bundesliga champion, having joined Dortmund in 2010 from Japan's Cerezo Osaka, who were then in J-League 2. In this year's league and cup double-winning side, Kagawa scored 19 goals in all competitions. Those included one in this month's 5-2 cup final trouncing of Bayern Munich before the watching Ferguson, and the 59th-minute goal in the win over Borussia Mönchengladbach that clinched the championship.

Costing them only €350,000 (£300,000), Dortmund landed a bargain, and with United having agreed the fee, the deal is now about Kagawa's terms. Currently earning no more than ¤1m a year and possibly as little as €750,000, Kagawa was offered a new contract worth as much as €2.5m. But this was rejected, and the word from the Westfalenstadion is that playing in England, not money, is the motivating factor in his wish to move.

Jürgen Klopp, the manager at Dortmund, recognised this when he recently said: "We cannot take away Shinji's childhood and his Japanese culture. Where Shinji was born our league means nothing – there is only the English Premier League."

If United were to offer £45,000 a week this would more than double Kagawa's current wage, so his salary should not prove a serious hitch. But the suspicion lingers that Kagawa's imminent presence at Old Trafford confirms a new era of austerity is under way. Fans and seasoned watchers of the club wonder if this is now how it will be. Are the effects of the Glazer family's cash-burning buyout that cost United £500m alone in leverage fees and which continues to drain resources finally showing?

Chelsea's first European Cup probably swung Hazard away from Manchester to London. But his fee and the money he could earn at Stamford Bridge were also deal breakers for United. When it came to it Ferguson could not countenance paying the £32m and the £100,000-a-week salary Roman Abramovich rubber-stamped at Chelsea for a 21-year-old who is still raw potential. United may have the finance for one splurge in the market, and with the vagaries of football Ferguson has to be as sure as he can.

At the close of the season Kagawa was filmed after the cup win swigging from a bottle of beer then hugging his interviewer. While it is difficult to picture Kagawa doing either under the Ferguson regime, as noteworthy was his need to speak through a translator despite two years in Germany.

Kagawa is nonetheless said to be intelligent and willing to learn – on and off the field. If he joins Ferguson's quest to regain the title from Manchester City his ability to adapt to a second new culture in as many years and master another language would only enhance his hopes of success. As Klopp added: "Anyone who leaves us carries the greatest doubt as to whether he makes the right decision."

On United's limited budget, Ferguson has the same thought.