Manchester United are convinced a £30m deal to buy Luke Shaw on a £100,000 a-week salary is virtually complete in what is viewed as a major coup over Chelsea, with the sacked David Moyes largely responsible for convincing the 18-year-old Southampton left-back to spurn the club he supports.
The prospective transfer would make Shaw the highest paid teenager in English football history and provides a boost for United in the wake of Moyes's departure as the club embark on finding his replacement before a summer in which they are intent on spending up to £150m on rebuilding the squad.
The £100,000 a-week, five-year contract, on offer to Shaw is far greater than Chelsea are willing to pay and they have decided to pull out.
The proposed personal terms would see Shaw placed well above the bracket of Adnan Januzaj, who when agreeing a fresh five-year contract at Old Trafford last autumn received a salary of around £60,000 a-week.
Moyes is recognised at United for being largely responsible for persuading Shaw to place United ahead of Chelsea, with the former manager having put in long hours to try to secure the hottest prospect in the domestic game.
Chelsea were considered favourites to land Shaw, a lifelong Chelsea supporter whose parents live near the club's Cobham training centre in Surrey. Yet the terms plus the lure of becoming Patrice Evra's instant successor at left-back has boosted confidence at Old Trafford that Shaw will join.
Evra, 33 next month, was considering leaving in the close season but the Frenchman is now minded to stay. Shaw has been informed of this and that Evra would be happy to act as his mentor.
Shaw's rise to prominence has been so rapid that he could go to the World Cup in Roy Hodgson's England squad at the cost of Ashley Cole, who has 107 caps and was first-choice until Everton's Leighton Baines ousted him.
As reported by the Guardian Shaw wants his future to be decided before the World Cup and the sense at United is that he will become their first major signing of the summer.
The sacking of Moyes is also causing many players who might have left in the summer if he was still the manager to consider staying. Danny Welbeck had decided he wanted to depart owing to differences with Moyes. Now, the striker is minded to stay and other players, including Shinji Kagawa, Javier Hernández, Rio Ferdinand, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher and Ashley Young, believe they will be offered a fresh start under Moyes's permanent replacement.
Despite United now having only an interim manager in Ryan Giggs, the club believe Moyes's departure has not affected their hopes of prising Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich.