MIDDLESBROUGH'S Christian Karembeu last night flew to to Athens to tie up a near-£3m move to Olympiakos.

The French star yesterday met representatives of the Greek giants in Paris where he agreed a two-year deal reported to be worth £1.7m-a-year - around £33,000-a-week - tax free.

Boro had originally expected the 30-year-old midfielder to make a belated return to their Hurworth headquarters tomorrow to report for pre-season training.

New Boro boss Steve McClaren was anxious to speak to the World Cup winner, whose future has been the subject of intense speculation for several months.

It became increasingly clear, despite his protestations to the contrary, that Karembeu was eager to make a fresh start after a disappointing season on Teesside following his £2.1m arrival from Real Madrid last summer.

Karembeu at first set his heart on a move to Paris St. Germain. His Slovakian supermodel wife, Adriana, had spoken of how she disliked the North-East weather and food, and longed to return to their plush apartment in the French capital.

When PSG's interest in Karembeu cooled, Olympiakos and Monaco were alerted.

Karembeu's agent, Milan Casalan, last week maintained Boro had received an approach from Olympiakos and that a move to Greece was likely.

And a spokesman for Olympiakos, who have already signed Colombian Jorge Bermudez, last night revealed: ''Our second big transfer of the summer has been completed.

''Christian Karembeu is arriving in Athens tonight with vice-president George Loubarais after completing negotiations in Paris.''

A press conference will be held at the club's ground in Pireus today at noon.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have emerged as rivals to Boro for Bordeaux right-back Francois Grenet, who is growing impatient at the impasse over his proposed move to the Riverside Stadium.

Boro and Bordeaux still appear some way apart in their valuation of the 26-year-old, with McClaren believed to have offered £2.75m and the French side demanding almost £1m more.

McClaren was characteristically cagey when asked about his interest in Grenet, but admitted the situation had reached "stalemate''.

He added: "Nothing is definite. Negotiations are going on and my policy is that I won't comment until we have a player here and everything is done and dusted.''

* Former Boro defender Christian Ziege has confirmed his move from Liverpool to Tottenham.

Ziege told the Liverpool website that he expected to link up in midfield with another of Hoddle's summer signings, Teddy Sheringham, after realising he was not part of Anfield boss Gerard Houllier's future plans.

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