Nantes’ Cameroon midfielder Salomon Olembe is the target of Italian giants Juventus, it has emerged.
Olembe, who is valued at £5million, is on loan from Nantes to Olympique Marseille for the rest of the season.
Juventus vice-president Roberto Bettega and coach Mauro Lippi watched him at Velodrome stadium last week when Marseille trashed Auxerre 3-0 in a rescheduled French league game.
They also made enquiries about another Marseille player, Daniel Van Byten, and the club’s boss Bernard Tapie said: « We have a very good working relationship with Juventus and talks are at an advanced level. »
A versatile player, Olembe played as left-back when Cameroon won the African Nations Cup in 2000 but was moved up to the left side of the midfield by German coach Winfried Schaefer when The Lions successfully defended the title in Mali.
Meanwhile, Cameroon’s captain Rigobert Song has also confirmed he would be interested in joining the club in the summer. The West Ham defender is currently on loan to FC Cologne of Germany.
His agent is working on a number of interesting offers for him, and Song said: « It is obvious I can’t play in the lower division now that it is certain Cologne will be relegated.
« I have got a lot of offers that my agent is sorting out. I hope things get clearer before the World Cup. »
