Bremen interested in French star Diarra

French midfielder Alou Diarra gives a press conference in Tbilisi, 2006. Werder Bremen are interested in signing Diarra from French champions Lyon, the Bundesliga side's manager, Klaus Allofs, revealed.

Werder Bremen are interested in signing France international midfielder Alou Diarra from French champions Lyon, the Bundesliga side's manager, Klaus Allofs, revealed on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old, who has 12 caps and who played most of the second-half of last year's World Cup final, is fluent in German after spending two years playing for Bayern Munich's reserves.

Now Bremen are reported to be in a position to offer between five and seven million euros (6.7m-9.4m US dollars) for the 1.90m defensive midfielder, Allofs confirmed to German daily newspaper Bild.

"I have spoken to the player and he is very interested in a change," said Allofs. "So we will try and make the transfer happen."

Diarra fell out of favour at Lyon under manager Gerald Houllier, who has just been replaced by Alain Perrin, and is keen to quit the six-time French champions after a season in which he made just 14 appearances.