Sir Alex Ferguson has been promised whatever funds he needs in the transfer market this summer to maintain Manchester United as the dominant force in the Barclays Premier League. United won a second successive league title on Sunday and hope to add the Champions League crown by beating Chelsea in Moscow next week, but David Gill, the chief executive, has assured Ferguson that he will be given the money to buy reinforcements, such as Luís Fabiano, the prolific Seville and Brazil forward.

Ferguson’s main priority is to sign a centre forward to share the goalscoring burden with Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tévez and Cristiano Ronaldo. The United manager has lost patience with Louis Saha, who started only six Premier League games this season, and is considering players such as Dimitar Berbatov, the Tottenham Hotspur forward, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, of Ajax, but the name emanating from Old Trafford yesterday was that of Fabiano, who has scored 33 goals in Spain’s La Liga for Seville this season.

United are not yet thought to have spoken to Seville about Fabiano, 27, but they have been informed of his availability by a third party and have scouted him extensively in recent weeks, with Ferguson having sought reports from his brother, Martin, who is the club’s chief European scout, Jim Lawlor, the chief scout, and Mike Phelan, the first-team coach. Their interest will hinge on a dispute with Seville, with Fabiano and his representatives convinced that he can be bought for £8.6 million. The Spanish club are standing by a prohibitive £46.8 million valuation that they claim is in his contract.

If Fabiano is available at a cut-price fee, United will make their move, but, if not, they will consider other targets. Ferguson admires Berbatov, who is eager to leave Tottenham, but he is said to be unsure about the Bulgarian’s workrate and his ability to perform against top-class opponents.

With doubts over the future of Gary Neville, who did not make a league appearance this season, and with Gerard Piqué angling for a move to Barcelona, defensive reinforcements are another priority. United remain keen on Philipp Lahm, the Bayern Munich full back, who is also interesting Barcelona, and are monitoring the situation of Micah Richards, the England defender, at Manchester City.

Wilson Palacios and Luis Antonio Valencia, the Wigan Athletic pair, and Miguel Veloso, the Sporting Lisbon midfield player, have also been linked with moves to Old Trafford, with Gill making clear last night that United are “in a position where, if we can improve it, we will.”

The other priorities are to secure a long-term contract for Patrice Evra and a permanent deal to sign Tévez.