Ben Arfa deal in jeopardy

The French champions confirmed they had reached an agreement to sell the highly-rated attacking midfielder to Marseille earlier in the week, but the 21-year-old is yet to put pen to paper.

And Lyon have now put a time limit on negotiations, with the transfer set to fall through unless it can be completed by close of play on Friday.

A Lyon statement read: "Lyon inform that the eventual transfer of Hatem Ben Arfa to Marseille must take place before tomorrow evening, Friday June 27, so that it is registered with the league before June 30.

"Without an agreement between the player and Lyon... Lyon will be led to renounce the transfer."

Should Ben Arfa complete the move to the Stade Velodrome, he is expected to cost Marseille in the region of 12 million euros (£9.5 million).

A product of the Lyon youth system, Ben Arfa made 30 league appearances last season, netting six times, and had also reportedly attracted interest from Arsenal.

Ben Arfa has won six caps for France but was not a member of the Euro 2008 squad eliminated from the current tournament in the group stage.