Manchester United are ready to offer Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham or Ole Solskjaer in part-exchange for the Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke.
After weeks of speculation linking the 26-year-old Yorke with Old Trafford, the United manager Alex Ferguson broke his silence yesterday to confirm his interest in the player.
But he ruled out any astronomical fee, saying: "We are interested in Yorke but if Villa are talking £16 million it is out of the question. However, we are hoping to work away on that."
The Villa manager John Gregory countered: "I am not interested in any Manchester United cast-offs. If they are not good enough to play for United then they are not good enough for Villa."
He was adamant that Yorke, Villa's leading scorer for the past three years, was going nowhere. "I have still not received any official contact from United and I do not intend to deal through third parties," he said.
"I have no decision to make and I do not intend to discuss the subject any further because as far as I am concerned there is nothing more to say, apart from the fact I have every intention of ensuring Dwight will still be an Aston Villa player at the start of the new season."
Yorke has two years remaining on his current contract and Villa are prepared to extend it by a further two years and make him the club's highest earner on £30,000 a week.
United yesterday agreed terms with Parma for the Sweden winger Jesper Blomqvist, who was at Old Trafford to meet the chairman Martin Edwards. A deal of around £5 million should be concluded next week.
The manager has long been an admirer of Blomqvist, whom he tried to sign last season. Blomqvist first impressed him when he was playing for IFK Gothenburg and scored the first goal in the 3-1 victory against United in November 1994 in a Champions League group match. Gothenburg went on to reach the quarter-finals that season as United missed out.
Teenage Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka has signed a new contract to give the Premiership champions a huge pre-season boost following the recent departure of Ian Wright.
Anelka had been linked to Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid after declaring that he was not being paid enough by the Gunners following his £500,000 move from Paris Saint Germain last year.
The 19-year-old, who just missed out on a place in France's World Cup-winning squad, now seems certain to line up alongside Dutch ace Dennis Bergkamp next season. However, Arsenal were unable to confirm the length of Anelka's new contract.
Diadora, the sportswear company, has ended its £2.5 million sponsorship deal with Villa's Stan Collymore, citing the striker's much publicised bust-up with his then girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson as the last straw.
Wim Jansen, who quit as head coach at Celtic two days after securing the club's first Scottish League championship in 10 years, is being lined up to succeed Holland's World Cup coach Guus Hiddink.
Jansen, twice a World Cup finalist with Holland as a player, was approached by the Dutch FA some time ago but the approach was kept quiet until after France 98.
