Ferguson given cash to tempt Forlan to United

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stepped back in for the Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan yesterday – and is confident he will snatch him from Middlesbrough's grasp.

Ferguson has been given the money to match Boro's £6m bid for the Independiente forward and will now rely on the lure of Old Trafford to win the race. Forlan stalled the move to the Riverside yesterday by asking for his slice of the fee up front, a further £900,000 bill that will stretched Boro's patience and resources.

The United chief executive Peter Kenyon returned from a club business trip to the Far East to oversee the deal after weeks of cutting through red tape to find the right price. Now Ferguson plans to speak to Forlan today, with frantic moves being made to fly him and an Independiente entourage to a meeting in Manchester.

United are also thought to be closing in on the Barcelona full-back Michael Reiziger, with a £5m bid in the pipeline. The Dutch international, a good friend of the United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, is eligible for the Champions' League, not having appeared in it this season.

It was also reported yesterday that the PSV Eindhoven defender, Kevin Hofland, a previous United target, will sign for the club in July.

United's ticket allocation for their FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough has been halved. The Teesside local authority safety advisory group has told Middlesbrough to give United only 2,400 tickets for the fourth-round tie on 26 January, instead of the usual 5,000, because of persistent standing and smoking in non-smoking areas by some United fans in the past at the Riverside.