Jul 12, 2006, 11:14 GMT
Milan - Spanish top club Real Madrid are keen on snatching Fiorentina striker Luca Toni and other Italian world champions who appear set on leaving their scandal-ridden clubs, news reports said on Wednesday.
The Spanish club are said to have offered 20 million euros (25 million dollars) for the 29-year-old Toni, besting by about 10 per cent a previous offer from Inter Milan.
The towering forward scored two goals at the World Cup, only in part living up to his fame of ruthless hitter who notched 31 goals in the Serie A season.
His Florence side are under trial in Rome for alleged involvement in a wide match-fixing scandal and face relegation to the Serie B along with AC Milan, Lazio, while title holders Juventus could be dropped two divisions.
With the sentence in the sports trial due later this week, several big clubs have begun negotiations with the four beleaguered sides and their players.
Real manager Predrag Mijatovic was quoted as saying earlier this week that his club 'looks to have the three players of Juve, (Fabio) Cannavaro, (Gianluca) Zambrotta and (Brazilian) Emerson in seven days.
'All of them have a contract clause forcing us to pay Juve, but all of them want to come to Real, and this makes things simple. They will not be loans. We want to own our players, according to our tradition.'
The club from the Spanish capital have already snatched former Juve coach Fabio Capello.
Also in Real's sights are Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka and Andrea Pirlo, who impressed at the World Cup and appears to be considering a transfer to Madrid.
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