Lyon are preparing to re-sign Jeremy Clement despite Paul Le Guen hoping the French midfielder will follow him from Rangers to Paris Saint-Germain.
Both Ligue 1 clubs are prepared to pay in the region of £2m for the holding midfielder, who is eager to return home after Le Guen walked away two weeks ago.
The Herald understands that Gerard Houllier is keen to restore the 21-year-old to the Stade Gerland, having been reluctant to sell him for £1.1m in the first place. Houllier lost Clement and Mahamadou Diarra last summer and is seeking a long-term replacement for the Malian, who cost Real Madrid £19m.
Lyon will make their move at the start of next week but face competition from Le Guen. Clement was in the final year of his contract when he was sold to Rangers but Lyon are prepared to pay more than they received to thwart PSG.
The money for Clement would allow Walter Smith to up his offer for Lee McCulloch whose club, Wigan Athletic, are refusing to let the player leave without a fight.
Paul Jewell, the English side's manager, angrily dismissed McCulloch's written transfer request yesterday and stressed he will not be leaving for Rangers unless they submit "an unbelievable offer".
The Wigan board have now rejected offers of £750,000 and £1.1m and are unconcerned by the Scottish internationalist officially asking to leave.
The Herald understands McCulloch had wished to leave the club even before being told of Rangers' interest.
None the less, while Walter Smith will monitor developments over the weekend, Jewell reacted furiously to McCulloch's claims he wants to return to Scotland for family reasons, having omitted it from the official request. Wigan blame John Viola for unsettling their player and, with McCulloch having used the Professional Footballers' Association to negotiate previous contractual matters, have claimed he is not even his official agent.
"He can hand in 10 transfer requests, but until something is right for this club, then he won't be going," he said. "I spoke to Walter Smith yesterday, and I'm disappointed the stuff came out earlier in the week. Rangers are denying it, and they are saying it's the agent who, incidentally, is not his agent. I think Lee forgot to tell Viola he is contracted to somebody else until March.
"As far as I'm concerned, nothing is going to be done unless it is an unbelievable offer - and even then, I probably won't consider it."
Smith refused to be drawn on the intricacies of Rangers' interest in McCulloch but conceded he needs reinforcements. "We have enquired about a number of players but it just so happens that Lee is one who has created a lot of attention," he said. "I do not want to say too much because things are ongoing."
Smith expects Chris Burke to sign a new contract soon.
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