AC Milan to sign Djetou from Monaco

AC Milan are to sign AS Monaco defender Martin Djetou in June.

Djetou helped the club from the principality seal the French championship two weeks ago but the higher wages on offer in Italy have tempted him away from Champions League football next season. The defender was called up last week into the national team for tonight's friendly against Slovenia in Paris and could be taken to Euro 2000 in June.

The Frenchman was also a recent target for Juventus but Milan have been watching his Monaco performances for more than six months. Monaco were unhappy with Juventus' signing of striker Thierry Henry in the autumn of 1998 and always favoured the offer from Milan for their star defender. The French club wanted Djetou to sign a new contract to stay with them until 2004 but Milan are expected to pay £7 million to secure the transfer.

Milan are also interested in rivalling any AS Roma bid for Verona midfielder Martin Laursen with the Danish international valued at more than £4 million.