Manchester United are winning the race to sign Brazilian wonderkid Gabriel Veron, according to reports.
The 18-year-old has emerged as a huge talent this season and Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona and Juventus have all been linked with his signature.
The forward has scored 10 goals in 36 first-team appearances for Palmeiras and caught the eye of European scouts with his performances.
Veron has a £53m release clause in his contract but his many suitors are confident of landing him for cheaper.
In fact, Sport suggests it could take only £18m to prise the youngster away from Palmeiras.
The Spanish publication reports that United have stolen a march on Madrid, City, Barcelona and Juventus in the race to sign Veron.
Barcelona were thought to be in pole position to acquire the Brazilian, but the postponement of presidential elections has harmed their cause.
The vote to elect a permanent successor to Josep Maria Bartomeu was originally scheduled for January 24, but the club has been forced to push that date back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Major transfer decisions are on hold until the Barcelona members vote for a new president.
As a result, United have been working hard behind the scenes to jump to the front of the queue.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Fulham on Wednesday.
United fell behind to an Ademola Lookman goal, but Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba found the back of the net to secure three points for the visitors to Craven Cottage.
“Of course you’d like a comfortable win at times but it never is easy down here,” Solskjaer said.
“Of course going 1-0 down after such a short time, I think that was what we needed – we needed a wake-up call.
“It’s never easy when you travel down here, stay in a hotel, you wanted to have a light training session but we couldn’t so we needed that wake-up call really.”
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