De Gea undergoing Manchester United medical

(GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is set to push his summer spending close to £50 million later this week when he completes the signing of goalkeeper David de Gea.

Press Association Sport understands the Atletico Madrid star arrived in the city for a medical just two days after helping Spain Under-21s to victory in the European Championship in Denmark.

With United having opened negotiations with the Spanish club some weeks ago, it was only the highly-rated 20-year-old's involvement in that tournament which held up the deal.

But with no problems expected with his medical De Gea is likely to complete his move, reported to be worth around £17 million, in the next few days.

He will be the third new recruit at Old Trafford this month, following the arrival of Blackburn's England Under-21 international Phil Jones and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young.

Ferguson hopes De Gea will be the long-term successor to Edwin van der Sar, who retired at the age of 40 at the end of last season.

The Scot's recruitment of goalkeepers has not always been the best, with some notable outstanding successes but plenty of signings who have very quickly fallen by the wayside.

Having failed early on with Jim Leighton, Mark Bosnich and Les Sealey, he recruited Peter Schmeichel from Brondby for £550,000 in 1991 and the Denmark international went on to become one of the club's greatest goalkeepers and certainly the best of the Premier League era.

However, the search for his replacement began in 1996 and did not find someone worthy of being placed in the same bracket as Schmeichel until Van der Sar was recruited from Fulham nine years later.

In that time the likes of Tony Coton, Raimond van der Gouw, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll, Ricardo, Tim Howard and Ben Foster were all recruited but failed to deliver the consistency Ferguson was hoping for.

The arrival of De Gea, aged just 20, adds instant quality with the promise of the realisation of greater potential.

Such is the Spaniard's reputation that compatriot and Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina, who seems likely to face De Gea when the north-west rivals clash at Anfield on October 15, reacted positively to the player's move.

"I very much welcome this news because David is a great keeper," he told La Gaceta.

"When it becomes official he is going to start working to prove in the Premier League what a good goalkeeper he is."

Following the retirements of Van der Sar, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville from last season Ferguson has moved quickly to strengthen in three areas, bringing in players who all - in theory - should have their best years ahead of them.

The Red Devils boss is believed to want to add more creativity to his midfield and has been linked with Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder and Arsenal's Samir Nasri.

De Gea factfile

1990: Born in Madrid on November 7.

2007: Helps Spain to victory in the 2007 Under-17 European Championship, and then to a runners-up spot in the Under-17 World Cup.

2008: Spends his first professional season with the Atletico Madrid reserves, in the Segunda Division B.

2009: September - De Gea makes his senior Atletico debut as a substitute in the Champions League against Porto, coming on for the injured Roberto.

October: Starts his first Primera Division match at home to Real Zaragoza. In the first 20 minutes he gives away a penalty but then saves the spot-kick.

2010: Towards the end of the 2009-10 season he becomes the first-choice goalkeeper under new coach Quique Sanchez Flores, twice earning man-of-the-match awards towards the end of the season.

May - Plays in the Europa League final victory over Fulham in Hamburg. Named in Vicente Del Bosque's 30-man provisional World Cup squad but does not make the final squad.

August - Helps Atletico win the European Super Cup in a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan, saving a penalty during the game.

2011: May - Ends the season as an ever-present in La Liga for Atletico. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claims that the clubs are close to completing a deal to sign De Gea, though De Gea denies the claims. Included in Spain's 23-man under-21 squad for the European Championship in Denmark.

June 25 - Wins European Under-21 Championship as Spain beat Switzerland 2-0 in the final in Aarhus.