Real Madrid have entered the race to sign Florent
Malouda and have made contact with Lyon, the French club have
confirmed.
A deal with Chelsea looked set to be pushed through, but as the
London club have yet to make a concrete offer other clubs have
begun to show an interest.
Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas has now revealed that Madrid have
made enquiries and could follow that up with an offer.
"Madrid have also asked about him and we have other clubs who are
interested in signing him too," he said.
The Ligue 1 champions are insisting that they will only do business
if the 25m asking price is met which may prove to be too steep for
los Merengues.
Malouda is said to have set his heart on a move to Stamford Bridge,
but a high level meeting has held up negotiations between the two
clubs.
"If he leaves then it will be under the conditions that we have
already declared," Aulas continued.
"At the moment, Chelsea have not given us the impression that they
are going to wrap up any deal.
"They have told me that Peter Kenyon and Abramovich will meet in
the next few days and then we will know what is going happen.
If no deal is reached with another club then Malouda will have to
start the new season with Lyon, although that now appears to be
highly unlikely.
"Of course, we are not ruling out that he will leave us," Aulas
said after the player was allowed to miss training on
Tuesday.
Madrid are keen to bolster the left-side of midfield and have been
heavily linked with Arjen Robben, but are monitoring the market in
case there is a problem with the deal for the Dutchman.
