EMILE HESKEY, the England and Liverpool forward, was offered to Lyons, the French champions, for a one-year loan period. However, Lyons decided to decline the opportunity and instead have set their sights on Mark Viduka, the Leeds United forward. Lyons wanted Heskey after being told by Gérard Houllier, the Liverpool manager, that he could be available. Lyons saw a swap deal for Viduka, involving Edmilson, their Brazil defender, fail, but are still keen to sign the Leeds forward.
Portsmouth are said to be interested in signing Juan Pablo Sorín, the Argentina defender, after his release by Barcelona. Carlos Kameni, the Cameroon goalkeeper, has been loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers from Le Havre for one year.
Celtic won the second leg of their Champions League second-round tie against Kaunas, of Lithuania, 1-0 at Celtic Park last night to win the tie 5-0 on aggregate.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND DRAW: Vardar Skopje (Macedonia) v Sparta Prague; MTK Budapest v Celtic; Rangers v FC Copenhagen; Austria Vienna v Marseilles; Club Brugge v Borussia Dortmund; Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) v Lokomotiv Moscow; Lazio v Benfica; Dynamo Kiev v Dynamo Zagreb; Rosenborg v Deportivo La Coruña; Grasshopper Zurich v AEK Athens; Zilina (Slovakia) v Chelsea; Celta Vigo v Slavia Prague; Partizan Belgrade v Newcastle; Galatasaray v CSKA Sofia; Anderlecht v Wisla Krakow; Graz AK (Austria) v Ajax.