Manchester United have had a bid of around €16m (£12.8m) for Borussia Dortmund's Shinji Kagawa rejected, according to a highly-placed source at the German club.

The offer for the 23-year-old midfielder was not accepted as Dortmund value Kagawa closer to €20m. But as he cost just €350,000 when the German champions bought him from the Japanese club Cerezo Osaka two years ago, it is thought that the deal may go through next week for around €17-18m.

Sir Alex Ferguson watched Kagawa a fortnight ago when he scored in Dortmund's 5-2 win over Bayern Munich in the German Cup final. He scored 13 goals in 31 league games as Dortmund won the Bundesliga from Bayern by eight points and would fit the profile currently adhered to by United of a young player who could improve and not cost a premium price.