Sir Alex Ferguson in Manuel Neuer battle

Posted Thursday, April 28, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Sir Alex Ferguson in Manuel Neuer battle
ABOVE: Alex Ferguson will make a £24m bid for Manuel Neuer

SIR ALEX FERGUSON will make a £24m bid to blow Bayern Munich out of the water and clinch the signing of Manuel Neuer.

Manchester United have been tracking the German No.1 for the past 18 months yet believed the Schalke star had already sealed a move to Bayern.

But Alex Ferguson has learned no deal between Schalke and Munich is in place, and with the German giants unwilling to pay more than £20m he wants to launch one last bid to get his man.

And an offer of £24m could be too much for Bayern to match, leaving Ferguson in pole position to sign the man regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers.

Ferguson has courted the 25-year-old for some time, but had resigned himself to going for Atletico Madrid’s David De Gea as a replacement for Edwin van der Sar, thinking Neuer was out of his reach.

But Neuer’s stunning display in United’s 2-0 Champions League win on Tuesday has convinced Ferguson he should make one last attempt to get his top target.

Spanish star De Gea is also highly-rated by United, but there are fears that, at 20-years- old, he lacks the experience to be able to perform consistently at the highest level at present.

There are no such fears over Neuer, who has proven himself at last year’s World Cup and in the Champions League with Schalke this season. Until now it had been thought he was destined for Munich, but with Bayern struggling to make it into the Champions League next season there is now a slight chance he could move elsewhere.

And United were happy to learn yesterday that Schalke have not even held talks with their German rivals over a possible transfer – and Bayern already fear his price may be about to increase.