Sir Bobby admitted to being keen to sign van Buyten during the January transfer window, but the French club were unwilling to sell and Jonathan Woodgate arrived at St James’ Park instead.
Subsequently Marseille put a £17million price tag on the defender and interest from the Premiership and Serie A all but disappeared, until now.
The World Cup star claims that he has received an approach from a top European club and is seriously considering a move.
“I don’t have any problems to stay at Marseille, but some offers are just too hard to resist,” he said.
“I am in a phase of negotiations. In this kind of position one has all sorts of feelings.
“It is a difficult decision to take and I want to be discreet. It is useless to divulge the contact if, at the end, nothing comes of it.
“But if I leave Marseille it will only be for a top club.”
However it is only a fortnight since Sir Bobby said that he was happy with his central defensive options, which would appear to rule a move for van Buyten out.
A more likely destination for the player is Manchester United, who will be without the injured Wes Brown for much of the season, or Serie A champions Juventus.