Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are keen to shop in Serie A this summer, with AS Roma defender Cristian Chivu and AC Milan playmaker Kaka the respective targets.
Barcelona and Roma officials met here on Friday to discuss the possible transfer of Chivu, who is also fancied by Inter Milan.
After the meeting Roma's Sports Director Daniele Pradé said negotiations for the 26-year-old Romanian international were at an early stage and that Barca had not made an offer.
But the clubs are expected to meet again next week and pundits believe there is a good chance the deal will go though.
The Catalans want to find a quality replacement for captain Carles Puyol, who will be out for four months after surgery on his knee.
Roma would prefer to sell Chivu to a foreign club than do a deal that will strengthen Serie A rivals Inter.
Negotiations between Roma and Inter for Chivu were thought to be at an advanced stage.
But Pradé stressed Friday that "it is not certain that Chivu will go to Inter".
Ramon Calderon has reiterated that Real Madrid are willing to folk out 80 million euros to lure Brazil star Kaka from Milan.
"Milan will make the transfer difficult, but we are ready to put up the means and the energy to bring off the deal," the Real Madrid chairman said in a interview with Spanish sports daily AS.
"We don't want to force Milan (into selling) because we care about maintaining good relations with them. But it would be another matter if the player wanted to go because he felt he'd come to the end of a cycle".
Calderon said a bid of 80 million euros is not too much for a club with an annual turnover of 400 million.
He added that Real paid just a little less, 75 million, to bring Zinedine Zidane from Juventus in 2001, when the club's turnover was far lower, 180 million euros.
The comments are likely to irritate European champions Milan, who have repeatedly told Real that Kaka is not for sale.
JUVENTUS MOST ACTIVE ON THE TRANSFER MARKET.
Juventus are the most active Italian club on the transfer market at the moment.
The Turin giants, who are returning to the top-flight after being relegated for match-fixing last year, announced Friday that they have signed Portugal midfielder Tiago from Lyon and Argentine midfielder Sergio Almiron from Empoli.
They said they paid Lyon 13 million euros for Tiago, a 27-year-old ball-winning defensive midfielder who has played for Chelsea and Benfica.
Almiron cost nine million.
Earlier in the week Juve bought Italy striker Vincenzo Iaquinta from Udinese.
They are also reportedly trying to convince David Trezeguet to extend his contract for three more years by offering the France forward an annual salary of 3.5-4 million euros.
Trezeguet is expected to leave Turin, after reportedly taking offence at the club's offer of a three-million-euro salary.
Udinese outbid Sampdoria in the auction to have full ownership of young Azzurri talent Fabio Quagliarella on Friday.
Both clubs own half of the 23-year-old, who burst onto the international scene at the start of this month when he scored the spectacular goals that gave Italy a 2-0 win over Lithuania.
Udinese bid seven million euros to buy him outright.
Quagliarella, who is reportedly a target for a number of top clubs including Manchester United, played for Samp last season, scoring 13 Serie A goals.
