The Ferdinand fee will eclipse the �28.1m United paid Lazio for Juan Sebastian Veron and the �19m they spent on Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Ferdinand moved to the top of the record British transfer list when he moved from West Ham to Leeds for �18m in November 2000 before the Van Nistelrooy and Veron deals.

He now once again heads the table, which sees the Old Trafford club occupy the top three positions.

The fee will also surpass the world record for a defender, which was set when Juventus paid �22.5m for Frenchman Lilian Thuram.

And the �30m for Ferdinand will put the deal sixth in the biggest transfers all time.

Real Madrid hold the top two positions in the world league after they paid �46.5m for Zinedine Zidane and �37m for Luis Figo.