Many foreign teams are interested in Christian Wilhelmsson. The most important clubs are Nantes, Lens, PSG, Toulouse and Rennes. However, only Nantes have officially announced their interest in the Swedish winger.
The same story goes for Vincent Kompany. German side Hamburg are in pole position for the defender, but there has not been made an official offer yet.

Moroccan international, Nouredine Boukhari has joined the French first division FC Nantes, revealed on Monday the French club.  Boukhari, 26, has signed a three-year deal with the French club after a wonderful season with the Dutch team of Ajax Amsterdam crowned on May 7 by winning the Netherlands Cup.
 
Nantes has consolidated its ranks with other two players; Cameron's Alioum Saidou (Galatasaray) and Serb-Montenegrin goalkeeper, Vladimir Stojkovic (Etoile Rouge de Belgrade).
 
The Moroccan midfielder started his career with amateur side Neptunus Rotterdam and has subsequently proved able to fill roles on the wing or up front, as both a target man and foil for a main striker.
 
He joined Sparta Rotterdam in 1999 and spent three impressive seasons there, scoring 13 goals in 76 league appearances. Then he joined Ajax, signing a three-year contract for the Dutch champions.

Despite offers to join the Netherlands squad, Boukhari has chosen to represent Morocco, taking part of their 2002 African Cup of Nations squad.

Lens snatched a UEFA Cup berth with victory over Nantes on the final day of the season.

However, they need to thank Bordeaux's Fernando Menegazzo as his late goal against Marseille made all the difference.

The draw in Bordeaux and a similar result for Rennes in Lille allowed Lens to move up from sixth to fourth, edging out Marseille on goal difference.

Lens came from behind to beat Nantes, conceding Emerse Fae's eighth minute goal before hitting back through Ferreyra Jussiei, Aruna Dindane and Adama Coulibaly.

With Nantes playing it safe in midfield, the onus was on Lens to go forward but the dangers inherent in the strategy were soon exposed when the visitors took the lead with a move on the counter-attack.

Frederic Da Rocha broken down the right wing, crossing for Fae to score.

Lens sought to respond quickly, and Jussiei had just seen a long-range volley come back off the crossbar when they found the equaliser.

It came in the 19th minute when Benoit Assou-Ekotto's cross was volleyed home by Jussiei.

Two minutes later they were ahead when Nantes goalkeeper Mickael Landreau - playing his final game for his boyhood club - failed to clear a corner, allowing Dindane to prod home.

Lens controlled the game from then on as Nantes had no answer.

They finished the half with a fine sweeping move but Assou Ekotto could not cap it with a goal, sending his shot over the bar.

Lens picked up where they left off in the second half, with Jussiei almost immediately testing Landreau with a low shot which the goalkeeper did well to smother.

In the 71st minute, Landreau diverted Olivier Thomert's shot onto the bar and moments later thwarted the player in a one-one-one situation.

However, he could do nothing about the third goal in the 85th minute. Dindane beat two defenders before cutting the ball back to Coulibaly who finished from close range.

At that stage, Lens were still outside the European places with Marseille winning in Bordeaux, but the crowd erupted as news trickled through of Menegazzo's equaliser.

Nantes coach Serge Le Dizet has urged his side to finish their Ligue 1 season on a high despite having nothing to play for in Lens on Saturday.

Les Canaris have already secured their survival while Lens will be looking to snatch an improbable place in the UEFA Cup.

But the hosts' fate will depend on Marseille, who travel to Bordeaux, and Rennes, who face Lille. Lens need Marseille to lose and Rennes to do no better than a draw to stand a chance.

Le Dizet has no intention of making it easy for Lens at the Stade Felix-Bollaert.

"We must be honest and play our last match well," he said. "We know it will be a difficult encounter against a tough side.

"We have to finish off the season well and take points. It would be good to end the campaign on a positive note."

Lens midfielder Alou Diarra knows his side's European chances are all but over.

"There is a little pressure, but considering that we were unable to win over Le Mans last week, our fate is not in our hands anymore," he said.

"Even if we win, we will have to rely on a faux pas from Rennes and Marseille and it is not easy to be in such a situation.

"Now the aim is to please our fans at Bollaert and win."

Francis Gillot, who was this week confirmed as head coach ahead of next season, will be without suspended striker Daniel Cousin, Ligue 1's third top scorer this season.

Gillot will, however, welcome back Olivier Thomert, who has shaken off his thigh injury.

For Nantes, goalkeeper Mickael Landreau will play his last game before joining Paris St Germain next season.

Le Dizet has three absentees, including defender Franck Signorino (hip and calf), midfielder Julio Rossi (groin) and striker Habib Bamogo (illness).

Mamadou Diallo is rated doubtful with a thigh problem.

A second-half penalty from Jean-Claude Darcheville earned second-placed Bordeaux a 1-0 win and ensured a losing farewell to the Stade Beaujoire for long-serving Nantes goalkeeper Mickael Landreau.

Landreau is leaving the club after 13 successful years in the summer with Paris St Germain his likely destination.

However, Darcheville's spot kick with 13 minutes to play denied him a clean sheet on his farewell appearance at his home ground for Les Canaris.

Nantes started the match well and in the very first minute Nicolas Savinaud, who like Landreau has been in the first team for a decade, hit the bar.

Next Bocundji Ca and Denis Oliech worked a good move but it was to no avail for Les Canaris.

Bordeaux's first real threat came after 23 minutes when Pablo Francia found Denilson, who shot when Darcheville had been in a better goalscoring position.

Nantes were having the better of things and Jeremy Toulalan's 35-yard shot forced a fine save from Ulrich Rame before Marc Planus got in a vital tackle to deny Oliech.

In the second half it was Nantes who continued to make the running with Oliech meeting a Franck Signorino cross and forcing a fine save from Rame.

However, against the run of play Bordeaux took the lead as substitute Rio Antonio Mavuba was brought down in the box by Loic Guillon and Darcheville converted what would prove to be the matchwinning goal from the spot.

There was a bizarre incident after 84 minutes when referee Tony Chapron brandished a red card at Rame after a supposed foul on Oliech, but then discovered his assistant had ruled the Kenyan striker was offside.

No penalty was awarded and Rame was recalled to the field.

Rame's reprieve proved decisive as he then pulled off a brilliant save to keep out a volley from Savinaud.

Nantes goalkeeper Mickael Landreau could put pen-to-paper on a four-year contract with Paris St Germain by the end of the month.

The France stopper, who will be Les Bleus' third goalkeeper at the World Cup in Germany this Summer behind Gregory Coupet and Fabien Barthez, announced in March he would leave Les Canaris, the club he joined as a youngster.

He has long been linked with the Paris giants and was in the capital this weekend to pass his medical, according to Le Parisien.

Landreau made his professional debut with Nantes in 1996

Ernesto Javier Chevanton's last-minute strike spared Monaco further embarrassment this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Nantes.

The Uruguayan's equaliser cancelled out Aurelien Capoue's 26th-minute opener for the visitors who looked set for a rare away success in their own miserable campaign.

The game always looked like one between two teams with nothing to play for and it wasn't until midway through the first half that either side had a meaningful attempt on goal, Monaco's top scorer Chevanton seeing his effort chalked off for offside.

Three minutes later and Marco Di Vaio forced a good punch from Nantes keeper Mickael Landreau, but almost immediately the visitors broke up the other end to open the scoring.

Defender Franck Signorino fed midfielder Capoue, who kept his composure to control the ball and fire home his third goal of the season.

Chevanton's turn and shot flew over the crossbar just before the break and the striker was at it again after the interval, this time glancing the ball off the top of the bar.

He turned provider minutes later, setting up Di Vaio whose shot was blocked by Signorino.

It was all Monaco at this stage and an equaliser looked inevitable, Di Vaio off target from Jaroslav Plasil's pass.

But as the clock ticked down, so did the home fans hopes, until Plasil and substitute David Gigliotti exchanged passes to set up Chevanton for his sixth goal in the last eight games.

French Ligue 1. club FC Nantes is interested in taking over Nenad Milijas as revealed recently by some French news sources. The young and talented offensive minded midfielder is currently playing at Crvena zvezda Beograd. He moved to the Serbian giant during last winter break after playing for several seasons at FK Zemun which was forced to sell him due to a financial crisis.  

FC Nantes, currently ranked at place 13 at the league table, is seeking for offensive kind of reinforcments at their midfield. At this moment the French club is not satisfied with Aurélian Capoue. Another player at that position on the pitch, 34-year old Oliver Quint, is having a disastrous season. His contract won’t be extended at the end of this season.

A promising and talented midfielder
The almost 23-year old Nenad Milijas began his professional career in the summer of 1998 as very young and talented midfielder at FK Zemun where he played 130 games. During that period he scored 18 goals at the highest level in Serbia&Montenegro. Crvena zvezda Beograd recognized his talent for “reading” the game, ability to let his team mates score and having a perfect penalty kick plus good free kick, so they took him over for an amount of 500,000 euros during the last winter transfer window. During the last past months the 13-times capped Serbian&Montenegrin U-21 international developed into a good player for Crvena zvezda, making 4 goals during 7 league appearances.

More clubs are interested
Not only FC Nantes seemed to be keen on signing the left footed Milijas, clubs like Lokomotiv Moscow, Shaktar Donezk, Legia Warszawa (who were once close to sign him in) are having a growing interest. FK Partizan is named by other sources in being interested in the talented player from their big city and national rivals. In case FC Nantes will be able to bring in Nenad Milijas, the Serb will join his country man Milos Dimitrijevic who is playing for the French side since his youth.

Paris St Germain boss Guy Lacombe is relishing the prospect of facing arch-rivals Marseille in the Coupe de France final despite the recent bad blood between the sides.

PSG reached the final after talismanic captain Pedro Pauleta defied injury to net the winner in Thursday's 2-1 semi-final victory over Nantes.

They will now take on OM at the Stade de France next Saturday after the Mediterranean giants thrashed Rennes 3-0 in the other semi-final.

"Playing against Marseille in the final is a great thing for French football and both clubs," Lacombe said.

"This will be a beautiful match."

The game comes less than two months since Marseille took a youth side to the Parc des Princes for a league match last month in protest over security arrangements for a fixture which has a tradition of crowd trouble.

Both sides were docked a point by the French Football Federation (FFF) as a result, but this week had those points reinstated under appeal.

Pauleta once again came to PSG's rescue on Thursday.

Portugal's record goalscorer, who also leads the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 20 goals, was thought to be out of action until the 11th hour before kick-off but the Parisian giants' medical team worked wonders to get him fit in time.

He responded by netting four minutes from time after Nantes' Mauro Cetto had cancelled out Fabrice Pancrate's opener.

"There was only a very slight chance Pauleta would play," revealed Lacombe. "But the medical staff really did a good job.

"When we found out that he could play we did not hesitate to line him up.

"In the first half we played a low level before raising our game. Then Pauleta once again made the difference thanks to his talent."

A modest Pauleta laughed of suggestions that he was a "genius".

"It was a good match and I scored a good goal but I am not a genius," he said.

"It's the team's collective work which made things possible. I scored thanks to Vikash Dhorasoo's cross.

"The final against Marseille will be fantastic and a European spot will be at stake."

Franck Ribery, Taimu Taino and Mamadou Niang all found the net for Marseille, who put on a convincing show against Rennes in front of the Velodrome faithful.

"I am very happy with our qualification because this is the first time Marseille play a final at the Stade de France," said Ribery.

"I really hope we will win because the fans have been waiting for a title for a while and they deserve it.

"I have never played at the Stade de France and that's a great prospect.

"For me, this match was our best this campaign."

Marseille's last success in the French Cup dates back to 1989 while their Parisian counterparts lifted the trophy in 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2004.

Nantes  came back from one goal down with 22 minutes left to run out 3-2 winners in a hugely entertaining game against Auxerre.

Mauro Cetto levelled proceedings for the home side in the 68th minute before Emerse Fae grabbed all three points with a goal in the 85th minute.

The defeat is a bitter blow for Auxerre, who missed out on a great opportunity to further their European ambitions for next season.

The home side went in front after six minutes when Auxerre midfielder Thomas Kahlenberg lost the ball to Dennis Oliech and the Kenyan striker made no mistake in sliding the ball past Fabien Cool in the visitors' goal.

Cool's last contribution of the game was to pick the ball out of the back of his net as he was forced off with an injury in the 14th minute to be replaced by Sebastien Hamel.

Kahlenburg looked to have made up for his earlier slip in the 50th minute when he latched on to Yann Lachuer's pass to fire the ball home, only for the referee to rule the effort out for offside.

Auxerre finally struck in the 60th minute when Kanga Akale got on the end of Lachuer's free-kick to level the score at 1-1.

Seven minutes later Kahlenberg finally got his reward when he took a great pass from substitute Romain Poyet and put the visitors in front with a well-taken goal.

It only took Nantes one minute to respond however, when Frederic Da Rocha played in a free-kick which found defender Mauro Cetto to fire home.

As the game looked to be heading for a draw, Stephane Grichting lost possession and Fae coolly finished past substitute Hamel.

second half goal by Portuguese striker Pedro Pauleta gave Paris St Germain a 2-1 win over Lille and a place in the French Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.

Pauleta, the Ligue 1 top scorer with 20 goals, netted on 57 minutes with a fine curling shot from just outside the box.

PSG, who are eighth in the league, hope to regain the Cup they won in 2004 to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Lille started brightly and opened the scoring in the 30th minute when Greek defender Efstathios Tavlaridis headed home from a corner kick.

PSG equalised 10 minutes later through Ivory Coast striker Bonaventure Kalou and Pauleta settled the issue.

In another quarter-final later on Tuesday, Olympique Lyon, on the brink of a record fifth national title, continue their bid for a double when they entertain Olympique Marseille.

On Wednesday, in-form Stade Rennes, who have won their last eight league games, take on Ligue 2 side Montpellier and amateurs Calais entertain Nantes in a re-run of the 2000 final Nantes won 2-1.

The draw for the semi-finals will be made on Thursday

Relegation-threatened Strasbourg are in dire straits after a 1-0 defeat at Nantes on a night where virtually everything went wrong for the Alsatian club.

Not only did Aurelien Capoue's goal secure victory for Les Canaris, who have now reached mathematical safety. But results elsewhere also conspired against Strasbourg with bottom club Ajaccio beating Toulouse and - even worse - fourth-bottom Troyes beating Metz 4-2.

Troyes now have five points on Strasbourg, who also have a very tough run-in with four matches to catch the team from the Champagne region.

Strasbourg started well and Arthur Boka crossed towards Alexander Farnerud, whose first-minute header was saved by Mickael Landreau.

Farnerud then created an opening for Karim Haggui whose header was just wide.

Farnerud then headed an Ahmed Abou Moslem cross goalwards but Landreau saved.

Strasbourg must have felt sick when Nantes took the lead with their first attack after 29 minutes.

Dennis Oliech laid the ball off for Capoue whose first-time shot squeezed inside the post.

Nantes were buoyed by the goal and Olivier Quint had two free-kicks, the first going over the bar and the second finding the head of Mauro Cetto who was also too high.

Early in the second half Landreau did well to parry a Pascal Johansen shot after good work from Farnerud.

Yabo Hosni's long-range effort was poor and nerves began to tell as his team-mates berated his selfishness.

Landreau then saved a Hosni free-kick before Szilard Nemeth fired over after connecting with a Johansen cross.

Landreau was called on again to push away a shot from Farnerud and the custodian was once again equal to the task.

The result must have felt like rough justice to Strasbourg who now have it all to do if they are to stay in the division.

Sticks and carrots will be in Strasbourg's minds as they continue their bid to escape the relegation zone with a home match with Nantes.

The carrot is a potentially juicy one as victory over Les Canaris and a failure to win for Troyes in their relegation battle with Metz would see the Alsatians climb out of the bottom three.

However, while defeat would be painful in any circumstances the stick would leave a considerably more painful imprint on Jacky Dugueperoux's side if Troyes were also to beat Metz.

It would mean Troyes would pull five points clear of Strasbourg who would have just four matches left to overhaul them.

Last weekend Strasbourg could have climbed out of the bottom three with Troyes defeated by Lyon but their own 3-1 reverse at the hands of Nice ensured the status quo was preserved.

Strasbourg coach Jacky Dugueperoux told club website www.rcstrasbourg.fr that he was stressing the importance of getting out of the relegation zone as soon as possible.

He said: "If it has to be done, it's better that we do it sooner rather than later. Given that we finish the season with tough away matches at Marseille and Auxerre who are in Champions League contention. So we can not bank on them easing up."

Yacine Abdessadki and Ahmed "Abou" Moslem have recovered from their respective injuries and are available to face Nantes. Midfielder Ulrich Le Pen (calf) is sidelined but Tunisian striker Haykel Gmamdia has recovered from a shoulder injury.

Nantes are all but safe from relegation but Serge Le Dizet, who will take 17 players to Alsace, has urged his team to claim the three points that could make that mathematically certain of survival.

Le Dizet is refusing to declare that his team are already safe, telling www.fcna.fr: "It's difficult to name a figure but 40 points should be enough. For the moment nothing has been achieved.

"All the teams below us have important matches this weekend which could relaunch them."

At least Nantes, who have 38 points, are in better shape than last season where only victory in their final match saved them from the drop.

The £1.6million signing from Nantes made just seven league starts for Villa before being loaned out at the start of the season.
He has performed well for Auxerre, who are currently sixth in the French first division and has attracted interest from clubs in Spain.
Agent Olivier Jouanneaux said: "Mathieu is quite confident with his future.
"He has still two years left on his contract with Aston Villa and he knows the usual Spanish clubs are following him. He will wait for Villa to tell him what it wants him to do.
"Personally, I believe Mathieu could not go back to Villa to live the same season as last year or the one Eric Djemba-Djemba is currently experiencing.
"A positive solution may have to be found in respect to the parties' interests."

Kenyan international striker Dennis Oliech scored for Ligue 1 side Nantes in a 1-3 loss to Olympic Marseille at home on Saturday.

Oliech who came in as second half substitute for injured Mamadou Diallo scored in the 76th minute.According to Nantes website the Kenyan striker headed home a cross from Oliver Quint on the left wing.

The goal was the first for Oliech in Ligue 1 but his second for Nantes since he joined the club four months ago on a close to Sh300 million transfer from Al-Arabi of Qatar. His first goal for Nantes was in a French Cup match against Dijon two weeks that Nantes won 3-0. He now has two goals in four matches for the French side.

The goal may convince Nantes coach Serge Dizet to start Oliech more often in both league and French Cup matches.

Dizet was quoted two weeks ago on the club's website saying Oliech is yet to be fit to play a full game.

Nancy and Nantes in the end had to share the spoils after an unappetising mid-table battle.

Neither team has much to play for in terms of relegation or European football and it showed in a sterile match with the first half particularly bereft of incident.

Nantes were the only team that threatened in the first period and even then only rarely.

Habib Bamogo did well to create a chance for himself but fired wide and then Gennaro Bracigliano's miscued clearance almost let in Bamogo for another attempt on goal.

Nancy hardly threatened at all in the first period, although they have had a solid reintroduction to Ligue 1 after winning promotion last season and have also reached the Coupe de la Ligue final where they will face Nice next month.

Nancy were a little better in the second half and Jerome Brison broke through only to be halted by Frederic Da Rocha, who only earned a yellow card for the foul.

Bracigliano had to rush out of his goal to foil Dennis Oliech after 64 minutes and the Kenyan striker continued to be a thorn in the side of the Lorraine club.

Nancy almost scored an own goal after 78 minutes when Moncef Zerka almost turned a free-kick from Milos Dimitrijevic into his own net under pressure from Bamogo.

Nantes had one more chance to score in stoppage time when Loic Guillon tried to execute a volley, which went just wide of the net.

PREMIERSHIP side Mathare United have appealed to World governing soccer body Fifa to impose sanctions on Nantes FC for repeatedly failing to honour their obligation under Fifa regulation regarding the transfer of lethal striker Dennis Oliech.

In a signed statement, Mathare United chairman Bob Munro said they had petitioned the complain through the club’s legal advisers, the Simkins Partnership in London, demanding Fifa to impose sanctions on the French side, who fielded Oliech in their league match against Lille FC last Sunday.

The Simkins Partnership letter to FIFA stated: “In clear breach of the FIFA regulations for the status and transfer of players, FC Nantes have failed to make any payments either in respect of training compensation or solidarity payment within the prescribed timescale.

In the circumstances, and by reference to our latest letter to FC Nantes dated February 20 2006, to which no reply has been received, we ask that FIFA consider imposing sanctions for non-payment in accordance with Article 7 of Annex 4 and Article 2 of Annex 5 to the Regulations. We have sent a copy of this letter to the Fédération Français de Football.”

Nantes reportedly signed Denis Oliech in early January this year. The FIFA regulations require Nantes to make the training compensation and solidarity payments within 30 days after the date of the transfer.

Mathare United, also through the Simkins Partnership, still have a pending case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, regarding compensation on the original transfer of Oliech to Al-Arabi FC in Qatar in May 2003.

Munro said: “In a blatant misuse and abuse of his office, that transfer was secretly arranged by former KFF Secretary General Hussein Swaleh despite the fact that Oliech had signed a new 3-year contract with Mathare United on December 17, 2002.

In April 2005 the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber ruled in favour of Mathare United in their case against Al-Arabi FC.”

Oliech marked his start for Nantes when he came in as a second half substitute during a 1-1 draw against Lille FC.

Oliech, who joined Nantes from Qatar’s Al Arabic for undisclosed fee, was yet to start game for his new team due to knee injury.

But the lethal striker finally dorned his number nine shirt for the side when he subsituted Habib Bamogo in the second half of the fierce encounter.

At one point, Oliech forced Lille goalkeeper Tony Slyva to make a dreadful save after fastening onto a through ball from Mamadou Diallo.

Nantes had started the game forcefully grabbing the lead in the 6th minute via Julio Rossi. The goal was however, cancelled in the 87th minute when Keita Kader scored from close range. Following the draw, Nantes are lying 14th in the league’s table standing on 36 points from 30 matches and play away to Le Mans in another league match this Saturday.