Premier: Man Utd to sign French World Cup winning defender

Laurent Blanc is to jet into Manchester today and complete his signing from Italian giants Inter Milan.

Inter have confirmed United contacted them about Blanc and they had agreed to let the player go on a free transfer.

Blanc will be a straight replacement for the recently-departed Jaap Stam and his year-long contract is expected to earn him nearly £70,000 a week at Old Trafford.

The 36-year-old sat on the bench yesterday as Inter beat Perugia 4-1 at the San Siro after being replaced at the centre of the Inter defence by Colombian Ivan Cordoba and former Everton player Marco Materazzi.

The move sees the World Cup winning defender team up with his compatriot Fabien Barthez.