Euro intrigue in transfer season

France’s players are trying to block all talk concerning their club futures while they’re at the Euro. Winger Sidney Govou and goalkeeper...

France’s players are trying to block all talk concerning their club futures while they’re at the Euro. Winger Sidney Govou and goalkeeper Gregory Coupet offer a friendly ‘no comment’ to questions about possible transfers, while playmaker Samir Nasri is nowhere to be seen to field inquiries about his reported move to Arsenal.

The exception is backup goalkeeper Sebastien Frey, who talks openly about being approached by Bayern Munich. Coupet, who is leaving Lyon, has been linked with a move to either English side Tottenham or Major League Soccer in the United States. “My future is the Euro,” is all Coupet will say. “Then we’ll see, afterward.”

Much the same from Govou, who has won seven consecutive French league titles at Lyon, and is linked with Portsmouth and AS Roma in Italy’s Serie A. Asked if he’d been contacted by Roma, Govou replied, “I’ve only had contacts with coach (Raymond Domenech). I am concentrating on my Euro. I will have time to think about what I will be doing next season. I am not looking into it.”

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Frey has been far less defensive, and he chatted freely about being contacted by Bayern, which is seeking a replacement now that Oliver Kahn has retired. “There has been some approaches (from Bayern),” Frey said. “I told my agent that we would talk after the Euro.”

Frey says France winger Franck Ribery is pressuring him to join him in Bavaria by bombarding him with SMSs. But he thinks Fiorentina may have priced him out of the market. “Fiorentina asked for way too much money for a possible transfer,” he said.

Nasri, France’s 20-year-old playmaker, was supposed to have signed for Arsenal two weeks ago. But the deal, reportedly a four-year contract and a transfer fee of $24.8 million, has been held up. The Marseille player is silent since joining the French camp for training on May 24. He has not talked either in press briefings or in the post-match mixed zone after friendly games.

There are others fueling speculation in the French camp. Defender Lilian Thuram is likely to leave FC Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain are openly courting Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele.