Chelsea's hopes of challenging for the English FA Premiership next season may be boosted by the signing of West Ham's midfielder Frank Lampard. The west London club said yesterday they had agreed a £11 million fee for the unsettled 22-yearold England player, though Leeds United, Aston Villa and Tottenham have also expressed interest in him.
Lampard's agent Steve Kutner said: "Frank is abroad, but I have kept him fully aware of the situation and upon his return later this week we will meet with [the manager] Claudio Ranieri and Colin Hutchinson."
Hutchinson, Chelsea's managing director, said: "It's fair to say he has other options and nothing is going to happen overnight as he is on holiday. When he returns we will look to sit down with him and find out if he wants to come here. If he does we will try and agree personal terms."
Lampard sought a move last month after his father, Frank Snr, was sacked as assistant-manager along with Harry Redknapp, the manager and Lampard Jnr's uncle.
The talented Lampard would bring a new dimension to the Chelsea midfield, especially if they can team him with Emmanuel Petit. "We've had a number of discussions with Barcelona about Petit," Hutchinson added, "but they are on hold until the end of the Spanish season."
Chelsea's promised clear-out has already seen Gustavo Poyet join Tottenham and Dennis Wise linked with Leicester. And their defender Frank Lebouef said yesterday that he is interested in linking up with his former Chelsea team-mate Didier Deschamps, the new manager of Monaco. West Ham, still managerless, could also lose another player with Sunderland joining the list of clubs linked with the wing-back Trevor Sinclair.
Redknapp, meanwhile, has reportedly been in talks with Southampton about their managerial vacancy, but with the club's chairman Rupert Lowe on holiday, no announcement about Glenn Hoddle's replacement is expected for a while.
Hoddle says he is hopeful, though, that the out-of contract Darren Anderton will stay at Tottenham. "There are just a few things we need to iron out before a new deal is done and dusted."
Juan Sebastian Veron is due at Manchester United this week for talks over a £20 million move, according to his agent Gustavo Mascardi. "We have a problem with Lazio over Veron's future and so we will travel to Manchester for a meeting with United."
Steve McClaren is expected to be announced as the new Middlesbrough manager after the club called a press conference for 11 a.m. today. McClaren, who has spent three years as Alex Ferguson's number two at Manchester United, will take over as boss at the Riverside following the departure of Bryan Robson last week.
Leeds United's Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka are due to have talks with Frank Farina within the next 48 hours as Soccer Australia look for a World Cup qualifying tonic. Kewell, Viduka and a string of other top Australia players were absent for last week's Confederations Cup tournament in which Australia beat both France and Brazil on their way to finishing third. Despite an exhausting season for Leeds, coach Farina is hoping to convince the duo to play for Australia in the qualifying matches against the Oceania Group Two winner - likely to be New Zealand - on June 20th and 24th.
Eight months of misery and humiliation ended in bizarre fashion for Brazil coach Emerson Leao yesterday when he was apparently fired, or resigned, at Tokyo airport while waiting to board a flight with his team.
Leao, a former goalkeeper who played for his country at the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, was in charge for just 10 games and the once-mighty four times world champions managed a mere three wins under his command. Other results included humiliating defeats against Ecuador and Australia and goalless draws against Canada and Japan - all teams Brazil would until recently have expected to use for shooting practice.
Critics said that Leao, who according to Brazilian media was either sacked or resigned following a meeting with national team co-ordinator Antonio Lopes over the side's dismal Confederations Cup performance, failed to settle on his line-up.
Moreover, his defensive tactics horrified many observers. Leao famously described captain Leomar as a "seven out of 10 player", referring to the fact that the Sport Recife man was consistent but never brilliant.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter will be asked to provide answers to 25 detailed questions from UEFA relating to his running of world soccer's ruling body when he faces a crunch executive committee meeting tomorrow. UEFA president Lennart Johansson has sent a letter to Blatter listing the questions he wants answered following the collapse of FIFA's former marketing partners ISL/ISMM.
