THERESA Smalling was left in a state of shock when she heard her son, Chris, had signed for Manchester United.

The story broke on Tuesday afternoon, the former Chatham Grammar Schoolboy moving from Fulham to Old Trafford for an undisclosed fee.

He will stay at Craven Cottage for the rest of this season and will in June join Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and co for pre-season training.

Mrs Smalling, who lives in Walderslade, was almost speechless with disbelief when she heard the news.

"I know he spoke to Manchester United yesterday (Monday)," she said, "and we all knew they were interested, but it's difficult to take in that he will now be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"It's absolutely incredible. I wouldn't have been surprised had he gone to Arsenal, because I knew of their interest, but United? How far has he come in such a short space of time."

Smalling, who is still only 20, only signed for Fulham in the summer of 2008. He was at the time playing for Maidstone in the Ryman Premier, but got himself selected for England Under-18s.

He was noticed by Roy Hodgson and the rest is a rapid lesson in history.

Playing for Stuart Pearce for England Under-21s, marking players like Carlos Tevez and Didier Drogba in rare first-team starts and obviously impressive enough to interest Sir Alex Ferguson.

One person ecstatic at the news was his brother, Nathan.

Said mum: "He's a big Man U fan and is very excited. I expect he will be hoping for a few trips to watch them as a guest of his brother. There are only two years between them so they are quite close."