Saw this in Blick today: Apparently Hakan Yakin flies to Liverpool today or tomorrow to speak with Gérard Houllier about joining FC Liverpool in the near future. Yakin has a clause in his FCB contract (until 2005) that allows him to leave the club for a fixed sum of only 1.5 mio. CHF - a tiny amount for Liverpool. Should he sign however (January '03 at the earliest), he is still required to stay with Basel for 6 months, meaning that he will certainly finish the season with FCB. Schalke, Chelsea, Everton, and Celtic are also after Yakin according to Blick.
1.5 mil CHF, that would be a steal for any team. I wonder of this signals the start of a mass sale for Basel. That would be sad to break up the team, but it would provide other younger players an oppourtunity to grow and develop.