McCARTHY LINKED AGAIN WITH ENGLISH DUO

The former Ajax ace is one of the most wanted strikers in Europe at the moment and both Villa and The Gunners have been closely linked with him in the past few months.

McCarthy, who is about to return from the Olympics where he represented South Africa, was the subject of a number of bids in the summer and almost joined Rangers before they discovered he was ineligible for the Champions League.

Gregory, who has just lost Luc Nilis with a broken leg, is scouring Europe for a replacement, and is a known admirer of the South African.

Wenger, meanwhile, appears to want him to extend his options up-front, with growing doubts about the future of both Kanu and Dennis Bergkamp.

Celta are hoping to keep McCarthy, but according to sources, would accept a bid of around £8 million for their prized asset, who impressed against Villa in this season`s InterToto Cup scoring all three goals in the 3-1 aggregate victory.