United must pay up for Schneiderlin

Cape Town - Manchester United have been told they must offer £27 million to complete the signing of Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.

The Independent report that the path has been cleared for the Red Devils to sign Morgan Schneiderlin.

The Saints have reduced their asking price from £30 million for the France international.

Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool have all held interest in the midfielder but Manchester United are expect to land the Premier League star before they head to the USA for their pre-season tour.

The Red Devils' first offer of £20 million was rejected by the Saints, an offer which manager Ronald Koeman labelled 'not serious'.

Koeman's Dutch counterpart at United, Van Gaal expects to have his potential Michael Carrick successor in his squad when they leave for the US on July 13.

Schneiderlin joined the Saints in 2008 from French club RC Strasbourg's youth ranks.