COSTA LOTTA

Last updated : 14 April 2004 By Editor

Here's what they say:

The Sun:

When Barcelona president Joan Laporta sat down in the Costa Brava villa of Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s agent Roger Linse on Monday, he had his sales pitch worked out perfectly.

As Catalan holidaymakers wandered along the promenade in the seaside retreat of Cabrils, Laporta fixed his steely gaze on Linse and tried to offer Van Nistelrooy the world.

Persuasive, eloquent and speaking perfect English, this was the power of his overall message: "We will beat Manchester United’s wage packet.

"We will offer Ruud the chance to win great trophies and follow in the footsteps of Dutch legends like Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens and Louis van Gaal.

"We know your client has been learning Spanish. We’ll help Ruud work for one of his idols in Frank Rijkaard and he can play in front of a player who genuinely inspires him — Ronaldinho.

"Here he can win trophies at a club on its way up instead of on its way down."

The Mirror:

Barcelona will not give up their £30million attempt to prise Ruud van Nistelrooy away from Manchester United.

Despite United's insistence he is not for sale and the Dutchman adamant he is happy at Old Trafford, the Spaniards still believe they can land the prolific goal-scorer.

Van Nistelrooy's agent Roger Linse had a meeting at his Costa Brava holiday home on Monday with Barcelona president Joan Laporte to discuss a deal.Barca have £50m to spend in the summer and are desperate to capture a big-name forward to continue their rebuilding of the club.

Barcelona vice-president Sandro Rosell admitted a meeting had taken place between Laporte and Linse.

"It was a very friendly and informal meeting between Ruud's agent and our president," he said.

"If, for whatever reason, our technicians would be interested in Ruud, the first thing we would do is talk to the club. We never go through the players themselves."