United Agree Terms For Striker

Manchester United and Molde F.K. are pleased to announce that they have agreed terms for the transfer of Mame Biram Diouf.

The 21 year-old striker is to attend a medical in Manchester next week with a view to joining the club in January. Until that time he will remain with Molde F.K. on loan.

Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier today, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We’ve been looking at him for two years.

"We weren't intending on signing anyone else after [Gabriel Obertan] last week - we feel we have a full squad - but the situation accelerated to a point where other clubs started to make bids, so we had a decision to make.

"We decided to act now and he’ll be the last person we sign this summer."

To date, Diouf has scored 38 times in 73 appearances for Norwegian side Molde, the same club from which United signed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as a virtual unknown in 1996.

Diouf's impressive tally of 17 goals from 21 games so far this season includes a hat-trick in the first nine minutes of last Sunday's league match against Brann. He added a fourth strike, in the 27th minute, as Molde marched on to a resounding 5-2 victory.

A fellow countryman of several UK-based players including Blackburn's El Hadji Diouf and Portsmouth's Papa Bouba Diop, Mame Biram Diouf has represented his native Senegal at youth, Under-21 and Olympic (Under-23) level.