Barcelona, AC Milan and Inter Milan are all said to be interested in the Ivory Coast international but Marseille fans have launched an audacious bid to bring the 30-year-old back to the club he left four years ago.

A supporter called Kain has set up a website Doodle asking fans to pledge one, two or five euros to the club, writing: "Let's try to see if us supporters can pay for him by each donating one or two euros maximum to the club."

The collective attracted immediate attention and has already raised nearly 5,000 euros thanks in part to 800 fans each pledging the maximum five euros.

"We know that it would be very, very, very complex to achieve this, even impossible," one of its contributors Yaniss told La Provence.

"But what we want is only that it arrives to the attention of Pape Diouf and other OM directors."