But Alex Ferguson has been told he must wait until the Standard Liege star has fully recovered from a broken foot.
Fergie has been trailing Defour for more than a year and wrote the player a letter of encouragement when he suffered his injury.
Now the United boss has been alerted by news of interest in 22-year-old Defour from new Liverpool chief Roy Hodgson.
Fergie wants to head off rival bids by securing a quick deal for the player, who is now around 85 per cent fit.
Defour has a contract until 2013 but his agent Paul Stefani confirmed: "Sir Alex has been interested in Steven since he sent him the letter last September when he was struggling with injury.
"He is still interested but we have to wait for an offer to be accepted by Standard Liege.
"There is also interest from clubs in Spain, Italy and Germany, but everyone wants to play in the Premier League."