Newcastle United and Sunderland are waiting to snap up Wigan Athletic winger Charles N'Zogbia.
The Sunday Sun says as the Tyne-Wear rivals face D-Day over the French star's future, both fear being priced out of the market - with Liverpool emerging as favourites to land the Wigan Athletic winger.
The 25-year-old has a year left on his contract at the DW Stadium, and at the risk of losing him for nothing in a year's time, owner Dave Whelan has let it be known that he is ready to cash in on N'Zogbia to the tune of £9m.
N'Zogbia's wages are understood to be in the region of £60,000 a week.
That, along with the transfer fee, could prove prohibitive to both United and the Black Cats.