Michael Chretien latest: move delayed

Last Wednesday I assuredly claimed that Michael Chretien was imminently on his way to Real Betis, rather than City. But five days later he is still an AS Nancy-Lorraine player. I've trawled the internet for actual news on the player, without success until this morning. A report in today's Diario AS sheds some light on the deal, but a longer article in Diario de Sevilla (the local 'paper for Real Betis) in very informative.

I won't quote from either, because I don't fully trust the Yahoo BabelFish translator, but this is the story of the Diario de Sevilla piece.

• The immeadiate delay of Chretien's move to Betis has been due to a re-negotiation of the fee. Nancy originally agreed to sell him for €4.4million (£3.5m), but are now demanding closer to €5m (£4m). The paper predicts that Betis owner Manuel Luiz de Lopera will pay up to satisfy manager Paco Chaparro. The player's agent (Jacques Crouzel) and a representative of Lopera (Manuel Pericet) are still in touch.
  

• The reason for this change in asking price is a bid from City. The paper reports a formal offer of €5.8million (£4.6m). This has made Nancy President Jacques Rousselot 'burning with desire' to sell Chretien to City, but also eager to get more money from Betis.

• AS Nancy offered Chretien a new deal, but he demanded €2million/year (£30,000/week), much more than the club could afford. The player is set on a move to Betis, as is his family. But he has told Nancy manager Pablo Correa he will continue to work hard, and he starred and scored in a 3-0 friendly victory over Le Mans at the weekend.
  

• Another reason for Nancy's reticence about selling to Betis regards a potential takeover. Lopera is in talks to sell the club to the 'BSport' consortium, who may put up some of the money to buy Chretien. Rousselot is sceptical about this, and will only sell if all the money is Lopera's.

• The article concludes by predicting an outcome soon, most likely that Lopera will cave in and meet Nancy's new demands. A sum of €4.75m (£3.78m) is mentioned as a potential compromise sum.