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Bundesliga title-winners Borussia Dortmund's Japanese star Shinji Kagawa has put Manchester United on high alert by insisting he is "eager" to join Fergie's side.

French news agency AFP has reported that Sir Alex Ferguson is planning to send a team of scouts to follow the 22-year-old's progress next year, after the midfielder had a breakthrough season in the German league.

The Japanese international joined the Bundesliga champions for just £300,000 from J-League side Cerezo Osaka at the start of the season and scored eight goals in 17 league appearences, becoming arguably the finest player for the first half of the domestic campaign.

Kagawa's progress was hindered, however, as a broken foot in January caused him to sit out much of Dortmund's second-half run.

"If I get a formal offer, I'll be strongly interested in listening to what they have to say," Kagawa was quoted as saying by Nikkan Sports.

"The Premiership is one of the leagues I want to challenge. If it is Man U, I'll be still more eager to go and try and see how much I can do there." We're sure United's owners would be eager to tap into the marketing power of a Japanese superstar on their books too...

Dortmund general manager Michael Zorc has said that they are keen to re-sign the player to a contract extension, insisting that the club "would be stupid not to do so" in a recent interview with German football publication Kicker.

Kagawa's remarks come a day after a similar statement from Arsenal's Samir Nasri, who said that he would and see if rivals United's interest in him was "concrete", as he weighs up whether or not to pledge his future to Arsene Wenger's perennial underachievers.