Sevilla's Steven N'Zonzi is the subject of interest from Manchester City, Chelsea, and Juventus, after it was revealedhe has a £25m release clause in his contract, reportsthe Mirror.
Several of Europe's top clubs are set to send scouts to watch him take on Leicester City in Tuesday's Champions League tie.
Sevilla midfielder Steven N'Zonzi (28) is a 'priority' for Manchester City in January, with Chelsea and Juventus also very interested. [AS] pic.twitter.com/SwYl66X8f2
The former Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City midfielder, who has been likened to 1998 World Cup winner Patrick Vieira, will travel to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday to play in the second-leg of Sevilla's round-of-16 Champions League tie. The Spanish side lead the Premier League champions 2-1 on aggregate.
The former France under-21 international has rejected a contract to stay at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as he looks to force a move to one of Europe's best clubs. N'Zonzi has made 67 first team appearances and scored seven goals for Sevilla in the last two years, who this season find themselves in an impressive third place in La Liga, only three points off first placed Barcelona.
TRANSFER CENTRE: Chelsea & Man City reportedly keen on Sevilla midfielder Steven N'Zonzi. More here: https://t.co/tFJnTbw8Ch pic.twitter.com/CBDm8l2giZ
The French midfielder helped Sevilla win the Europa League last year, beating Liverpool in the final, and is hoping to end Leicester's recent upturn in results under interim manager Craig Shakespeare. Claudio Ranieri's former assistant islikely to be named the Foxes full-time manager until the end of the season.
Sevilla signed N'Zonzi for just £7m when he decided to leave Stoke, and manager Mark Hughes said that:We knew how good he was when he was here. He was under the radar to a great extent.I was amazed that nobody in the Premier League came and took him.Maybe people are trying to take a lot of credit now, saying he is better after going to Sevilla. I am not sure about that. He was always a very good player at Stoke.
''Just think back to his last Âperformance for us, against Liverpool when we beat them 6-1. He was very much part of that, so he wasn't playing badly for us.I tried really hard to convince him to stay, but I think, deep down, he wanted to get into the France team and felt it couldn't Âhappen for him if he stayed at Stoke.
''I argued that point, but he felt he needed a different Âchallenge, to be at a club, in his view, that had a chance of Âwinning things.It's been a good decision for him. He's gone to Sevilla and won the Europa League.
''He hasn't quite Âmanaged to get into the French team yet, which I'm surprised at.Maybe now he is getting the plaudits he never got here, because Sevilla is more high-profile. He is certainly a very accomplished player.�
N'Zonzi even acquired interest from the then England manager Sam Allardyce, who investigated the possibility of calling him up, becausehe had completed five years of residencyin England, only for FIFA to knock back those plans because he had featured in a competitivegame for the France under-21 side.