ESPNsoccernet: Transfers

Toulouse president Olivier Sadran has criticised Lyon for their pursuit of striker Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Les Gones have made Gignac one of their top priorities this summer, following the departure of Karim Benzema to Real Madrid.

They are believed to have made an increased offer of €15m for the France international, having already had a bid turned down last week.

Gignac himself has made no secret of his wish to sign for the deposed champions and the 23-year-old appears set to toughen his stance after missing training yesterday - something for which Sadran blames Lyon.

"Andre-Pierre is under an enormous pressure from Lyon and his entourage," he told Le Parisien. "He'll come back when he wants to.

"Lyon don't have the same class as Real Madrid which is a pity.

"I really believe that Real called (Franck) Ribery's agent to tell him that they were stopping talks because Bayern didn't want to sell him.

"Lyon always go and recruit their players from Ligue 1 and I'm not sure that's the best way to challenge in Europe.

"By continuing like this they're making themselves poorer on their own."

Gignac was Ligue 1's leading goalscorer last season after netting 24 times.