INTER MILAN last night officially moved for
Frank Lampard. SunSport has learnt that the Italian giants, now
managed by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, faxed Stamford Bridge
directly around 5pm yesterday with a £6.5million opening
offer.
A top Inter source confirmed: “Our technical director
Marco Branca has sent a fax to Chelsea to request the beginning of
negotiations for Lampard. "We will now wait for Chelsea’s
response.”
It is a major headache for Chelsea as Lampard, 30, has
just one year left on his current deal. The England superstar could
now force his way out of Chelsea and join Inter immediately by
using FIFA’s Article 17 to buy out the last year of his
contract.
Alternatively, he could wait until January and sign a
pre-contract with Inter that would let him leave for free at the
end of the season. Lampard has been pressing for a new contract at
Stamford Bridge for months. But, much to the midfielder’s
bewilderment, Chelsea have continuously refused to finalise a
deal.
Mourinho said last week that Chelsea might not let
Lampard go this summer — but he was convinced he would join Inter
for nothing next season. The move was designed to put pressure on
Chelsea to accept a bid from Inter.
After Chelsea took Deco from Barcelona last week, it
became clear Lampard’s future was in doubt. He was due to hold
crunch talks with new boss Phil Scolari this week regarding his
future. Yet Inter’s move may open the way for Lamps to finally end
his eight-year spell at the Bridge.
