Carrick to be confirmed as £18m United buy
Tottenham are expected to confirm the sale of their England midfielder Michael Carrick to Manchester United in an £18million deal later on Friday.
Spurs, who rejected a bid of £10million from United earlier this summer, are understood to have accepted their increased offer for the player.
Reports suggest the deal to take Carrick to Old Trafford was finally completed early this morning and he is expected to be unveiled as a United player later today.
The deal came just hours after Real Madrid claimed they had clinched the signing of United's Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy for a fee in the region of £10million.
The striker is believed to have signed a three-year deal with the Spanish giants after quitting United in the wake of his end-of-season bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, while United allowed the player to travel to Madrid for a medical, the Premiership club insisted no deal had been finalised.
Carrick's move to Old Trafford will land Spurs a handsome profit on a player they signed from West Ham for just £2.75million two years ago.
Ferguson has been a long-time admirer of the midfielder who will help fill the void left by the departed Roy Keane. Although he will not be a direct replacement for the Irishman, Carrick's passing skills will provide them with an outlet they have lacked since Keane left the club.
Carrick's loss will still be a major blow for Spurs coach Martin Jol who helped the 25-year-old force his way into Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Cup squad.
The Dutch coach had hoped that Carrick would repay the club's loyalty by staying at White Hart Lane but Spurs would not agree to the player's wage demands - reported to be around £50,000-a-week.
Carrick had two years left on his Tottenham deal but had rejected a new contract offer in the wake of United's persistent interest.
Tottenham's determination to hold out for a fee which closely matched their £20million valuation of the player means has given them more transfer cash to spend but Jol will not need to buy a replacement for Carrick.
Tottenham have already signed 22-year-old Benoit Assou-Ekotto from Lens and spent £10.9m on Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov but missed out on Chelsea's left-winger Damien Duff.
But the summer signing of Ivory Coast international Didier Zokora will make Carrick's departure somewhat less painful for Jol, who can now continue his search for a left-sided midfielder in earnest.
Carrick will become United's fifth most expensive signing behind Rio Ferdinand, Juan Sebastian Veron, Wayne Rooney and Van Nistelrooy.
United visit Amsterdam next week where they are due to play both Porto and Ajax and Carrick is expected to be part of the squad.
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