Giuseppe Rossi

The Spanish side have beaten a host of Italian clubs to the highly-rated striker’s signature.

The six-year deal is subject to the 20-year-old American-born Italian passing a medical on Wednesday.

Rossi spent the second half of last season on loan at Parma and he impressed at the Ennio Tardini.

United have decided to let Rossi leave Old Trafford as he is well down the pecking order in Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans.

The impending arrival of Carlos Tevez from West Ham would push Rossi further out of the picture for a place in the starting XI and United have opted to let the Italian Under 21 international move on.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson often spoke highly of Rossi, who scored 13 times in 19 starts for the reserve team in his first season at Old Trafford.

He signed a new contract until 2010 last summer, with Ferguson hailing him as “the future of the club”.

He went to Newcastle last season in a bid to play regular Premier League football but failed to win a regular place in the first team.

His loan spell in Parma was, by contrast, a huge success and Villarreal’s offer was apparently too good for United to turn down.