Will Glazer Spend Big Money

Glazer and Gill will surely be tested on their stance that United will sign the best players. In an interview with Radio Five live, when speaking about player transfers, David Gill said "it only takes one phone call."

Lyon have sent a warning out that any team wanting to prise Mahamadou Diarra away from them will have to pay in excess of £23m. It is estimated that there is a £25m transfer kitty available for new players this summer, but it is not known if that is the full transfer budget for the 2006/2007 season.

The Mali midfielder is reputedly high on Sir Alex Ferguson's wish list but Lyon, announced yesterday that any prospective purchaser would have to pay more than the sum Chelski spent on Essien last year.

Sir Alex was at San Siro last Tuesday as part of his search to fill the midfield role vacated by Roy Keane, with Milan's Gennaro Gattuso and Diarra both being observed. There is no official confirmation as yet that United are interested in either player. 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 to Chelski. The Glazer family might however be put off by Aulus's declaration that Diarra "would be more expensive than Essien".

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