MANCHESTER UNITED and Tottenham have been told they need to come up with £64million if they want to sign Bruno Fernandes.
United have been chasing the Sporting Lisbon midfielder throughout the summer as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues to overhaul his squad.
They had been confident of sealing his signature for £54m, but the late arrival of Spurs as willing bidders has suddenly seen the player's value shoot up.
And Sporting coach Marcel Keizer has left the Premier League clubs in no doubt the kind of money it is going to take to land Fernandes, 24.
Asked if he thought £64m was a fair price tag, Keizer said: "Yes … Even cheap.
"The market is there, we see the amounts that have been paid by other players. I don't know how much it will be.
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"It's not important to me, it's important to the club. I'm the coach, I want him to stay but let's see."
The Dutch coach admits he is cannot be certain he will have exciting attacking midfielder Fernandes available to him this season.
He added: "Of course you can't be 100 percent sure. It's not me who decides that at Sporting.
"It's football, the transfer windows are open and when it's like that it's not very good for coaches."
United have had it much their own way over the course of the close season, looking to be the only serious bidders in the market for the goalscoring midfielder.
They have so far failed to agree a fee, perhaps in the mistaken believe they could hold out for a lower sum as the only potential suitors.
But Spurs have suddenly attempted to hijack the move by sending someone out to Lisbon to negotiate with Sporting.
Both clubs are running out of time to find common ground with Sporting, with the transfer window due to close in England next Thursday.
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