Onyewu staying with Standard, says club official

The interest in American defender Oguchi Onyewu has been high recently, with clubs Olympique Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain being the two most eager, but reports Wednesday suggest he won't be going anywhere.

"[Onyewu] won't leave in January," said Standard Liege sporting director Pierre Francois in an interview with Belgium newspaper La Dernière Heure. "We offered him a new contract. If he doesn't accept that, he will leave after this season. We prefer to keep him for another six months and let him go for free than to sell him in January for just a small fee."

Both French clubs have apparently accepted the $4.3 million price tag put on Onyewu's head, with Marseille reportedly lodging an official bid for his services. It looks to be for naught, however, as if Francois has his way, the 26-year-old will be staying in Belgium.

Onyewu has made 155 appearances for Standard Liege since joining in 2004 from Metz. Despite being with Metz from 2002 to '04, he only made three first-team appearances with the club before being loaned out to Liege in a deal which eventually became permanent.