Ferguson the victor as Forlan heads for United

Diego Forlan headed for England last night to join Manchester United in a £6.9m deal after Sir Alex Ferguson proved more persuasive than his former assistant, Steve McClaren, now the manager of Middlesbrough, in the race to sign the Uruguayan striker.

Forlan caught a British Airways flight from Buenos Aires once United had agreed a fee for his transfer and after arriving at Gatwick this morning he will be taken to Manchester for a medical, and could be unveiled in the next 24 hours.

The pursuit took a decisive twist when United agreed to pay an extra £900,000 on top of the £6m fee to Forlan's Argentinian club, Independiente.

The money will go to the 22-year-old as part of his slice of the sale. The player's agents were already in Manchester and have agreed terms on a four-and-a-half year contract worth around £6m in wages.

The final offer came as a relief to Forlan, who wanted to sign for the champions and Premiership leaders rather than Boro. Friends claim he was speaking with Ferguson by telephone while McClaren was still trying to clinch the player's signature.

The original £6m offer made by United's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, for Forlan was rejected but Ferguson was determined to get his man and a new bid was made yesterday.

The deal, revealed in The Independent three weeks ago, has taken many turns but United's successful move has once again shown Old Trafford's ability to attract the best players ahead of ambitious rivals. Ferguson also looks to have replaced Andy Cole, whom he sold to Blackburn Rovers, with a younger striker who has a formidable reputation in South America and is eligible for the Champions' League.

Rejection is a blow for Middlesbrough, whose chief executive, Keith Lamb, proposed a new method of payment in Buenos Aires as he pushed for completion of the deal. However, United's intervention meant that Lamb had to fly back empty-handed on the same plane as Forlan.