Man Utd's Brazilians to join

Brazilian identical twins Fabio and Rafael are set to join Man Utd and begin their careers ahead of schedule - as soon as next week. The 17 year old Brazilian youth internationals are joining from Fluminese.

The two full backs - first spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson in a youth competition in Hong Kong in 2005 - signed pre-contract agreements with the Premier League champions when turning 16 in July 2006.

It had been expected that their European adventure would begin at the end of the current campaign, but the two 17-year-olds have now confirmed that their family will be moving to Manchester on January 21.

It is believed that United are paying £2.6 million for each of the teenagers who will look to emulate the Neville brothers by both winning a place in Ferguson’s first team.

“After eight visits to Manchester United, we will travel to come to live in England,” Rafael told Globoesporte.

"In the last two years, we were there three times in three months. We trained ten days and we came back. This time, all the family are going: Father, mother and our older brother with his wife.”

“I go to only train for six months, without participating in games, for Manchester United,” added Fabio.