Heerenveen value Alves highly

Heerenveen have warned interested clubs that Afonso Alves will not be sold cheaply.

Manchester City have been strongly linked with the Brazilian after travelling to Holland to watch potential targets.

Georgios Samaras moved to Eastlands from Heerenveen last winter and Stuart Pearce is understood to be keen on signing another of the Dutch club's strikers.

However, Heerenveen are expected to demand in the region of ‚é¼14million (£9.4million) for the player they brought to the club from Malmo in the summer.

The Dutch side are confident they will be able to hold onto Alves next month, with their asking price likely to put off many clubs.

"The risk of us losing Afonso Alves in January is very small," chairman Koos Formsma said.