Aberdeen were yesterday involved in a race against time to get Sheffield United keeper Alan Kelly signed up before the weekend.
The Dons and United have agreed a fee of around £600,000 for the 30-year old Republic of Ireland international.
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne was yesterday hoping to thrash out personal terms with Kelly's agent in an effort to have the keeper available for tomorrow's friendly against St Pauli in Hamburg.
"I'm delighted the clubs have finally agreed on a price," said Dons boss Ebbe Skovdahl.
"Every hour counts now because I would like Kelly to play for us tomorrow," he added.
Kelly, a favourite of the fans at Bramall Lane since his move from Preston in 1992, goes into the talks with the Dons with no preconditions.
"There are a lot of factors which I must consider and I will keep an open mind." said Kelly.
"I have a great rapport with the United support and that will be a big consideration."
"They took me to their hearts when I was an unknown and they have always backed me."
Kelly is the highest earner at Sheffield United and the Dons will need to come up with a lucrative package deal to persuade him to head north to Pittodrie as Skovdahl's first signing.
Meanwhile, Manchester United will attempt to revive Roy Keane's contract negotiations next week.
Keane's adviser and lawyer Michael Kennedy will meet United's paymasters in an attempt to rekindle talks that have stalled in recent weeks.
Both sides remain poles apart after the United skipper rejected the club's first offer at the end of last month, which was reportedly worth £28,000-a-week.
Keane, who is 28 next month, claims this is his last big pay-day and he is determined not to sell himself short.
Meanwhile, United players will have bodyguards for the final match of their tour against South China in Hong Kong tomorrow.
The authorities are deploying hundreds of extra police at the Hong Kong Stadium to avoid a repeat of the riot during a recent Olympic qualifier at the ground between Nepal and Malaysia.
Ryan Giggs and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will miss the game because they have flown home to Manchester after picking up injuries. Dietmar Hamann has finally completed his move to Liverpool from Newcastle for a fee believed to be around £8 million.
The German international put pen to paper at Anfield yesterday.
Nottingham Forest have completed the £3million signing of Aston Villa defender Riccardo Scimeca.
The former England Under-21 skipper has signed a four-year contract to become David Platt's first buy as Forest boss.
Scimeca said: "I may have dropped down a division but David Platt has impressed me greatly with his ambition. I am looking forward to being a part of Forest's future."
Platt said: "Riccardo is a player I hold in high regard and I am delighted to have secured his services."
Scimeca completed his Forest switch yesterday morning before driving to Bournemouth to link up with his new team-mates who are on a tour of the south coast.
He is likely to make his debut against Brighton.
