Anelka's permanent Liverpool move under threat
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Your support makes all the difference.Nicolas Anelka's move to Liverpool is about to collapse despite the efforts of Paris St-Germain to sell him cheaply.
PSG officials flew to Merseyside yesterday in an attempt to save the deal and are willing to cut the asking price to around £8m. However Anfield officials are reluctant to go ahead with the full-time transfer because of his wage demands and signing-on extras.
The transfer fee is coming down quickly as PSG fear they will have Anelka – and his salary – returned to them next season after his Anfield stint. The Paris club have just missed out on the Champions' League and are cutting back their budget by selling and loaning out several players.
Yesterday the club made it clear that they want to be rid of the striker. "Anelka is definitely not in our plans for the next campaign," the club's president, Laurent Perpere, said. "We are negotiating only with Liverpool because we know that they are interested. The player himself has been repeating that he wants to stay there and we are doing all we can to make things progress favourably."
The Lille midfielder Bruno Cheyrou might be on the verge of a big-money move to Liverpool, but the French side are taking nothing for granted.
Reports yesterday indicated that the 24-year-old, who has scored 15 goals in all competitions this season, was close to completing a transfer worth £3.75m. But the Lille president, Michel Seydoux, said: "Cheyrou might have announced things that have not been done yet, and he is still definitely playing for Lille."
The Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier was in the northern French city on Saturday to see Lille beat PSG 1-0 and finish fifth in Le Championnat. The Merseysiders have said that they are in negotiations for the player but say the deal cannot be made official until the French transfer window opens on 15 May. Lyon are also keen on Cheyrou and have reportedly offered £5m.
Djibril Cisse is to snub the advances of Europe's leading clubs, Liverpool included, and commit himself to Auxerre.
The 20-year-old, who finished alongside Bordeaux's Pauleta as Le Championnat's top scorer, with 22 goals, said: "So far I have experienced the Champions' League from the television, but next year I will definitely play in it with Auxerre."
Blackburn Rovers face competition for the signature of Andy Todd from Portsmouth. Blackburn have taken Charlton Athletic's out-of-favour defender on trial with a view to a bargain deal. However, the Pompey manager, Harry Redknapp, plans talks with him this week and hopes the chance of first-team football may persuade the player to join him.
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