Manchester United are trying to finalise a deal for Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo for around €6million (£5.4m).
The MEN understands the deal could include a 20 per cent sell-on clause for Caicedo's current club, Independiente del Valle.
Although a report in Ecuador claimed the deal is 'official', a source privy to the negotiations told the MEN negotiations are still ongoing.
The MEN reported on Monday United want to sign Caicedo, 19, as part of a new recruitment strategy and the teenager would move to Manchester in January due to new work permit regulations.
United have decided to pursue the highest-rated teenage talents around the world, having previously preferred to focus on long-term targets aged between 23 and 28.
Caicedo only turned 19 last month but made his Ecuador debut in October and has attained four senior caps, starting in their last four World Cup qualifiers. Caicedo started in Independiente's final game of the year on Monday night, a 1-0 defeat at Macara.
United agreed deals for teenage wingers Facundo Pellistri and Amad Diallo on deadline day in October, with the 18-year-old Diallo due to move to Manchester from Atalanta next month.
The club partly moved for Diallo in the last transfer window before new criteria was drafted up for Premier League clubs to sign 18 to 21-year-old foreign talent post-Brexit.
Pellistri, 19, was an unused substitute in United's Champions League wins over Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir and has played eight times for the reserves, scoring three goals.
Senior United sources described Edinson Cavani, a 33-year-old free transfer, as a 'pragmatic and opportunistic' deal and stressed the club's core recruitment strategy remains unchanged.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said last week he had not decided whether Diallo, who has appeared just twice off the bench for Atalanta this season, would go straight into the first-team squad.
"We felt Facundo would benefit," Solskjaer explained. "He started training with the first-team - he did well but we couldn't give him game-time so we thought we'd give him a run of games in the 23s and he's benefited from that. His confidence has been given a boost. He's shown in all the games that he can impact the game.
"With Amad, hopefully we can get him in and we'll see how the squad looks and how he looks and how he settles as soon as possible. They're both talented players that we believe will have a long career here. It's important we find the right time."
United's only previous Ecuadorian player, Antonio Valencia, joined the club in 2009 and won two Premier League winner's medals, two League Cups, the FA Cup, the Europa League and the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award for 2011-12 before he was released in 2019.
