(Inhale…) Giuly! Sablé! Queudrue! Payet! Ziani! Runje! Malouda! Cheyrou! Koller! Sagna! Rozenhal! Givet!

By: Sam | June 20th, 2007

A particularly mouth-watering few days on the transfer front these past days, and Ligue 1 are doing their part in keeping the rumours going. Here’s a quick rundown of all that crazy nonsense, chiefly involving the currently-dormant Olympique de Marseille, still needing reinforcements for their Champions League campaign, and to a lesser extent, Intertoto-bound Lens, a bit of Saint-Étienne and Lyon thrown in and a few others.

Ludovic Giuly! The dynamite but underused blaugrana midfielder is rolling out of Catalonia this summer. The heaviest rumours are having him heading Marseille-ways, and the three parties are getting along famously, according to newspaper le Parisien. The credible periodical added that a three-year contract has been agreed upon.

Julien Sablé! An OM fan his whole life, this could finally be the year he gets to wear his dream shirt. All signs point to him leaving Saint-Étienne this summer, and roughly 3 million euros separates him and Marseille, who look like the top dog in terms of attraction.

Franck Queudrue! The Fulham fullback could be making a comeback to his former club, RC Lens. He had left them for the London club six years ago. Talks between the two clubs have alledgedly mentioned the figure of 4,5 million euros.

Dimitri Payet! This one’s official. Payet, a young attacking midfielder who jumped the Nantes boat after their relegation, has signed on at Saint-Étienne for four years, reports L’Équipe. 3,5 to 4 million euros is the amount paid, declared the paper.

Karim Ziani! It’s no secret he’ll be donning a white-and-sky-blue shirt next season, right now it’s just a question of money. Sochaux’s asking for 12 mil, OM is bartering for 8 or 10. How much do you think he’s worth?

Vedran Runje! Remember him? He played for Marseille 2001 thru 2004. The Croatian international goalkeeper, formerly of Besiktas in Turkey, has put pen to paper for Lens for three years.

Florent Malouda! Everyone also knows that Ligue 1’s MVP is on the way out. He would be reunited with his former Guingamp teammate Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge, if things continue the way they’re going according to several English and French websites. Roughly 20 million euros and neo-bleu Lassana Diarra is what they’re going on about now. Inara would like you to know that this potential deal will bestow cancer upon children, pollute the atmosphere, and allow George W. Bush to stay for a third mandate.

Benoît Cheyrou! We’re back to Marseille. Six million was the original asking price from Auxerre, but it could go down if OM was ready to give away out-of-favor striker Toifilou Maoulida to AJA, whom are coached by former Marseille man Jean Fernandez who is very fond of the Mayotte-born fellow.

Jan Koller! At 34 years of age, the Czech international could or could not be staying on the Rocher or heading to Reading. Who knows? Not him, that’s for sure. He assured (not very well, mind you) that he was happy at Monaco. Or something. He thinks.

Bakary Sagna! Latest is that he’s turned down Newcastle and Lyon to accept the Arsenal challenge. The latest is also that he’ll come with a ten-million-euro bill from AJ Auxerre.

David Rozenhal! If the Pies can’t have Sagna, they’ll have Rozenhal, it would seem. They’ve offered 4 million euros to PSG to get their hands on the lanky Czech.

Gaël Givet! If Edmilson won’t come to Marseille, Diouf and co. are still looking for an experienced centre-back to help out their six dozen good-but-not-great other centre-backs. The international wouldn’t be against a transfer, but the folks at ASM don’t think he’ll be leaving anytime soon.