The Daily Mirror reports that Sir Alex Ferguson has received glowing reports about the forward and is ready to make a move.

Falcao, 22, is a similar type player to Carlos Tevez and has scored a superb 38 goals in 58 games for his club in Argentina.

He is also said to be attracting interest from Real Madrid and Juventus.

Meanwhile, Ferguson has described a young player claiming multimillion-pound damages after a horror tackle ended his career as "A-class".

The Old Trafford boss said Ben Collett had an "outstanding chance" of becoming a full-time professional if he had not been injured.

Collett, 23, joined United's youth academy aged nine and signed youth contracts, becoming part of the club's FA Youth Cup-winning team in 2003.

But, aged 18 and in his first game in the reserves in May 2003, he had his right leg broken in two places in a tackle from Middlesbrough FC's Gary Smith.

Both Smith and the club have admitted liability for the "negligent" tackle.

Collett was unable to forge a career in the professional game after the injury and is now studying.

The five-day hearing at Manchester High Court is to decide the level of damages Collett should receive from Middlesbrough's insurers.

Sir Alex said: "I thought the boy showed fantastic focus, a great attitude to work hard, and they are qualities to give any player an outstanding chance in the game."

Richard Hartley QC, acting for Collett, asked Sir Alex about the youngster's attitude to clean living and dedication to his job.

"A-class," he replied. "His attitude was magnificent. It was sad to see him come back and try so hard. I think we knew at that point it was a fruitless task, but his effort - he's an example to a lot of young players who get injured."

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