Bruno Fernandes and his party have been spotted arriving at the Lowry hotel as he closing in on completing his transfer to Manchester United.
The 25-year-old flew into Manchester last evening as his new side beat rivals Manchester City 1-0 at the Etihad.
Fernandes and his travelling party were snapped in the back of a minivan pulling into the city centre hotel United traditional use as a base before home matches.
The midfielder was hiding in the back of the Mercedes, but photographers confirmed the star’s presence at the city centre hotel at around 9pm this evening.
Fernandes is expected to sign a four-and-a-half-year contract at Old Trafford, with United paying £46.6m of the transfer fee up front.
The remaining £8.5m is available to Sporting in achievable add-ons.
The deal for Fernandes has taken several weeks to complete with talks stalling after United’s initial bid was rejected by Sporting.
Fernandes has also been attracting attention from City and Barcelona, with the latter’s interest this week prompting the Red Devils to raise their offer.
Today’s statement on the official club website read: “Manchester United is delighted to announce it has reached agreement with Sporting Clube de Portugal for the transfer of Bruno Fernandes.
“The deal is subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms.
“A further announcement will be made in due course.”
The presence of Fernandes and his entourage in Manchester is the clearest indication yet that the deal is on the way to completion, with two days of the transfer window remains.
United announced a deal had been agreed for Fernandes earlier on Wednesday
The Portuguese star has been linked with a move since last summer, having caught the eye with 32 goals and 18 assists across all competitions in 2019/20.
And Fernandes has continued that fine form with 15 goals and 14 assists for Sporting this season.
The playmaker is seen as the solution to United’s lack of creativity this season and is expected to provide competition to Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira in the No 10 role.
Injuries to Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay have also increased the strain on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad, with neither expected back until mid-February.