DEALTALK-Rivals may crimp Barclays' Italy plans

* Monte dei Paschi facing mid-Dec deadline to sell branches

* Barclays in talks to buy all 135 up for sale

* Intesa, Deutsche Bank, others also eyeing parts of network

* Price for Monte Paschi branches about 4 mln euros each

* Barclays also talking with Popolare on branches, Efibanca

By Ian Simpson

MILAN, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Rivals could crimp Barclays Plc's (BARC.L) ambitions to become a mid-tier lender in Italy by competing for a branch network that the UK bank hopes to secure in a possible 540 million euro deal.

Tuscan lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) is up against a mid-December antitrust deadline to sell 135 branches and the British bank has been in talks about buying all of them.