Blues To Stand Firm Over Lampard

Chelsea will inform Inter Milan for a second time that Frank Lampard is not for sale at any price.

Inter made a £7.95million bid for Lampard on Tuesday but Chelsea will reject their offer and continue to insist that the England midfielder will remain at Stamford Bridge.

The club's new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is adamant that Lampard wants to stay at Chelsea for years to come despite a claim from the player's agent that his client's contract situation at Stamford Bridge remains "completely unresolved".

Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, now in charge at Inter, seemingly wanted to steal the limelight from Scolari by prompting his bosses to make an official bid for the player just hours after the Brazilian had given his first press conference to the English media.

But Chelsea are adamant that they will not budge on the sale of Lampard even though he has just one year remaining on his current contract.

The London club will inform Inter again that they 'will not enter into any discussions' over the player's transfer and are expected to speed up talks with the player and his representatives over a new, long-term contract within the next 24 hours.

In the meantime, Scolari is convinced that Lampard wants to remain part of his revolution at Stamford Bridge.

"I met Frank Lampard on Monday and I spoke to him," said Scolari. "I like him too much as a player and as a person.

"I asked him if he wanted to stay at Chelsea, not only for this season but for more time. He told me after 15 minutes that he wants to stay and he wants to play for Chelsea for many years.

"I am very happy because I think Chelsea needs Lampard and he likes Chelsea. Now it's a minimum of questions to solve it. I think Lampard is with us for more time than one year."

Meanwhile Scolari has revealed why he turned down the chance to manage the England national team two years ago when in charge of Portugal.

"What happened that time was that both teams went to the World Cup and we were in a situation where maybe we crossed - and we did.

"I said to England it's impossible for me to sign a contract because Portugal and England could play against each other. Then I would be on the side of both teams.

"I said we could sign a pre-contract before the competition and when one national team went out, England could say 'you are the coach'. But they didn't agree about this because they needed to tell the media who the coach was going to be. I said the timing was wrong."

Scolari also cited media intrusion as one of the main stumbling blocks behind his decision to reject England.

"It was one of the reasons," confirmed Scolari. "Because people tried to enter my building, they tried to look into my rubbish. I was afraid about that. Now you ask me 'are you not afraid in Chelsea?' - no. Now I am more prepared.

"Before I was a bit afraid now I am better prepared to face the media. I'm not afraid to go out with my family. My mind has changed."

Frank James Lampard, Jr. was born at 20 June 1978 in Romford, London, England. He is a national team player Before moved to Chelsea, he played with West Ham United, and Swansea City.

He is the son of Frank Lampard, Sr., the former England full back and two-time FA Cup winner with West Ham United. His family is related to another famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Lampard was educated at Brentwood School, a boys' independent school in Brentwood, Essex.

Lampard has won the English Premiership twice (with Chelsea, 2004–05 and 2005–06).

In November 2005 he was named runner-up to Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho in the European Footballer of the Year awards. A month later he finished in second place, once again behind Ronaldinho, in the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was also named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2005.

Source: Sportinglife.com