Premiership: Forlan flies in as United and Boro battle for signature

Diego Forlan was flying to Newcastle this morning as Manchester United and Middlesbrough battled to sign the £6.9m-rated Uruguayan striker.

Both clubs are expected to have talks with the Independiente star’s advisors later today.

United are understood to have matched Independiente’s asking price and it is now a straight fight between Sir Alex Ferguson and Boro boss Steve McClaren for his signature.

Boro thought they had landed the highly-rated Forlan when they travelled to South America and had a £6.9m bid accepted by the Argentinian club.

However Independiente cooled towards Middlesbrough when the Teessiders revealed they wanted to pay the fee in instalments.

Independiente are desperate for money following the economic crisis in Argentina and want a one-off payment.

This has handed the initiative back to United, although the Premier League champions were steadfastly refusing to comment on Forlan today.

Forlan flew into Gatwick airport this morning.

United appear to have moved ahead in the race for the 22-year-old, having spoken to his representatives yesterday.

The striker has hinted he would prefer to join United rather than Middlesbrough and if all goes well he could have a medical in Manchester later today.