Man Utd close in on Kagawa deal

Manchester United commercial director Richard Arnold admits that the club are close to wrapping up a deal for Shinji Kagawa. United are believed to have agreed a 15m GBP deal with German side Borussia Dortmund.

The Japanese international midfielder will put pen to paper on a 4-year-deal at Old Trafford, and his signing will be announced next week.


United strongly deny that a move to bring Kagawa to Manchester has been motivated by financial reasons; influenced by his mass appeal in Asia.


"We don't sign players to sell shirts." Arnold said. "We are reliant on 25 players and they are all massive stars. We have 25 George Clooneys.


"When you look at the success we've seen in that part of the world [Asia], it isn't down to any one player or person. Of course, Ji is a fantastic player, was captain of the South Korea team and continues to be a key part of our squad.


"But for Manchester United, it's more than any one player. It was more than George Best, it was more than Bryan Robson, it was more than David Beckham, it was more than Cantona, than Park.


"Ji is very popular in Korea, just as Javier Hernandez is hugely popular in Mexico, but Paul Scholes has his own Chinese character. These are huge stars and the big stars are the big stars in every country. Our games are shown 1.1 billion homes across the globe and you think 'which film does that 60 times a year?'


"Be it George Clooney or Brad Pitt, what is there where that is shown? There just isn't anything like it."