Manchester United have been warned they will have to pay in excess of £23 million if they want to prise Mahamadou Diarra away from Lyon as their big summer transfer signing.
The Mali midfielder is reputedly high on Alex Ferguson's wish list but the French league leaders announced yesterday that any prospective purchaser would have to pay more than the sum Chelsea spent on Michael Essien last year.
United's interest in Diarra is still unconfirmed but Ferguson travelled to San Siro to watch Lyon take on Milan in last week's Champions League quarter-final.
The Spanish sports daily Marca has also claimed that Real Madrid were informed of United's desire to sign Diarra when they initiated their own talks with Lyon's chairman Jean-Michel Aulas.
Lyon's stance is that they want to keep their best players "even if a good deal is possible", although they made similar noises before agreeing to sell Essien.
The Glazer family might however be put off by Aulus's declaration that Diarra "would be more expensive than Essien".
Liverpool will face competition from the Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal as well as unnamed English clubs if they revive their interest in Deportivo la Coruna's right winger Victor Gonzalez at the end of the season.
The 30-year-old was due to complete a move to Anfield during the January transfer window only for the move to collapse over the size of the fee.
However, Gonzalez' contract at La Riazor is due to expire on June 30th and he seems certain to leave the club under the Bosman ruling. "How can I say that I would not be interested in moving to Liverpool? That would be ridiculous," he said.
The player's agent Jose Sanchez said he may be tempted by Villarreal - "The kind of club for whom Victor would like to play."
Meanwhile, Rangers will learn this afternoon if they are to be punished by Uefa's disciplinary committee in relation to the behaviour of their supporters during recent Champions League matches against Villarreal.
The Ibrox club were reported to Uefa by delegates after a window was broken on Villarreal's team bus in Spain as it made its way to the second-leg match, and Rangers's fans were accused of sectarian chanting during both fixtures.
Rangers will not be represented at the lunchtime hearing in Nyon, but have submitted a dossier to Uefa which is understood to include evidence of their anti-sectarian initiatives.
If found guilty, the Glasgow club are likely to be fined but Uefa have already warned that recidivism - counted as repeated offending within five years of an original offence - counts as an aggravating circumstance and Rangers would then run the risk of having part or all of Ibrox closed for European matches if the same offence occurs again.
Today's events will also be closely scrutinised by officials of Celtic and Hearts, who will be in Europe next season and recognise that elements of their support do engage in sectarian chants at matches against a backdrop of Uefa clamping down on racism and bigotry.
"We accept we have our own issues, particularly with a section of our away support, and we will continue to tackle this," said Celtic's chief executive Peter Lawwell.
