Iraqi playmaker Akram impresses Eriksson

Eriksson said the 23-year-old, who was instrumental in Iraq's Asian Cup triumph last year, had impressed him during the initial week-long trial.

"He's a very good football player, he will need to get used to the style of English football but he's a very elegant player and in the Asian Cup he was one of the very best in the tournament," Eriksson told the club's Web site (www.mcfc.co.uk).

"We need to fix the work permits but I don't think that will be a problem.

"He can do a little bit of everything in both attack and defence. I think he is one for the future ... he's good. He's a technically correct player."

Akram, who was nominated for the 2007 Asian Player of the Year award, would become the first Iraqi to play in a top European league since the 1950s.

Hamd Al Amri, director of football at Al Ain, Akram's club in the United Arab Emirates, said an agreement had already been reached between the two parties.

"The only thing left before signing the contract is getting the work permit," he was quoted as saying by the Asian Football Confederation's Web site (www.the-afc.com).