Mail on Sunday:
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar is the latest Premiership star whose transfer is to be dragged into the ongoing inquiries into possible illegal payments in football, as the net closes on the Premiership from a range of international investigations.
In the wake of Lord Stevens's announcement last week that 39 transfers are being investigated for possible irregularities by the Premier League's own inquiry into corrupt payments, at least three judicial probes across Europe are targeting English clubs for details of transfers.
And the Italian fraud squad, responsible for the inquiries that saw Juventus relegated to Serie B this season, are turning their attention to Premiership clubs as they investigate transfers between English and Italian clubs.
Italian prosecutor Stefano Palazzi has asked to see Van der Sar about what he knows of events surrounding his 2001 transfer from Juventus to Fulham. Although the Holland star is cooperating, United's fixture schedule has so far prevented him from flying to Turin for the interview.
There is no suggestion that Van der Sar is involved in Italian match-fixing inquiries or that he benefited illegally from his £7.5 million deal.
However, investigators are making wide-ranging inquiries into Juventus's transfer dealings to see if illegal payments were made to club staff.
Van der Sar's agent, Rob Jansen, said last night that he was not aware that the goalkeeper was required in Turin. Jansen said: 'The Italian prosecutors have interviewed everyone involved in a transfer with Juventus. That's natural - it's part of their investigation. Edwin has already spoken to them by telephone.'
Lawyers for Fulham owner Mohamed al Fayed have held several meetings with Palazzi and, at the prosecutor's request, have passed a dossier of evidence to him. These investigations coincide with two major judicial inquiries in France into corruption in football, both of which also feature the transfers of current United stars.
The Paris-based probe into Paris Saint-Germain transfers from 1998 to 2005 has looked at the £6.9m deal which took Gabriel Heinze to Old Trafford in 2004, while Marseille authorities are focusing on deals involving unlicensed agent Richard Bettoni, who helped take Louis Saha to Fulham in 2000 and then move him on to Old Trafford four years later.
There is no suggestion in either case that the players, or United, have done anything wrong but the French investigations have shed light on a network of agents and middlemen which stretches across the Channel and the world.