After reports suggested that Valencia were set to poach France international centre-back from Lille it was revealed that they may have to compete with Houllier’s Aston Villa. The 25-year-old has broken into the French national set-up this year and is a favourite of new manager Laurent Blanc having picked up 6 caps, 1 of which was against England a couple of months ago. Rami has been at Lille for his entire career and has been a mainstay and key player in the Ligue 1 sides impressive recent progress. In the last four seasons with the club Rami has played 109 times and scored 8 goals, with the no-nonsense defender incurring 29 yellow cards in the process. The Moroccan born centre-back is strong and athletic and will be no stranger to Gerard Houllier during his role at the FFF. A price tag of around £4-5 million has been touted by I would suggest that it would take more like 7 or 8 to tempt Lille from parting with one of their prized assets. Houllier is seemingly looking to replace last year’s player’s player of the season, Richard Dunne who is one of a few to have fallen out of favour at the club after apparent ‘disagreements’ with the management team.
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