Essien: Olympique Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says he will make a decision about the future of Chelsea target Michael Essien today. Aulas, who has repeatedly said he will not sell the Ghana midfielder for less than 45 million euros, met Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and the English champions' chief executive Peter Kenyon on Friday. "We have discussed (the case)," Aulas said. "But we have not reached any agreement. We'll take a decision on Sunday night, after the Marseille game."

Luyindula: AJ Auxerre have signed Olympique Marseille and France forward Peguy Luyindula on a one-year loan deal, the Provence club said. Luyindula, 26, has won four France caps, scoring one goal. He has not been called up by coach Raymond Domenech since France's 2-0 victory at Cyprus in a World Cup qualifier on October 13.

Ilie: Romanian forward Adrian Ilie is to sign a one-year contract with Belgian side Germinal Beerschot. Ilie, once nicknamed 'Cobra' for his deadly striking ability, left Swiss club FC Zurich in June after the expiry of his contract. The 31-year-old has been without a club for two months after refusing several offers from Romanian first division clubs. As a result Romania coach Victor Piturca omitted Ilie from his squad for the World Cup qualifier against Andorra on August 17.

In Holland: Champions PSV Eindhoven were held 1-1 away against promoted Heracles Almelo yesterday in the opening day of the Dutch first division. PSV struggled in the first Dutch top flight football match to be played on artificial turf but looked on their way to a lucky win when Philip Cocu opened the scoring with six minutes remaining. Three minutes later Thijs Sluijter handed the home side a deserved point.

Celtic: Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua have asked Celtic to raise their offer for international defender Du Wei. Shenhua did not say how much the Scottish club had offered, although a price of £800,000 has been reported. "Du Wei, 23, had a trial at Celtic last week before heading back to China.