BESIKTAS CLOSE IN ON LITMANEN
Besiktas representatives met with their Barcelona counterparts at last week's Champions League encounter where they discussed a possible deal for Litmanen.
According to reports a fee has been agreed and all that is required for the deal to go through is for personal terms to be agreed.
The Finnish international, who won the Finland player of the year award recently for the ninth successive year, has failed to establish himself at Camp Nou and he has been linked with a move away from the Catalan giants for some time.
The 29-year-old former Ajax star, who is under contract until 2002, has a release clause in his deal which allows him to leave for £15 million and Barca are believed to be willing to let the player leave for considerably less than that.
He has been linked a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa Porto and Bayer Leverkusen.
Litmanen will put himself in the shop window again on Wednesday when he plays for Finland against the Republic of Ireland and any interested clubs will have to move quickly to fend off the interest of Beskitas.
