SOCCER NEWS:FRANK LAMPARD has explored the possibility of exploiting the Webster ruling to walk away from the final year of his contract at Chelsea, risking the wrath of Fifa and effectively putting himself at the mercy of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), after the London club rejected Internazionale's €10 million offer for the England midfielder.
Inter were rebuffed yesterday, with the Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, insistent that Lampard would be held to the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge. Yet relations between the 30-year-old and the club's hierarchy appear to have fractured beyond repair, with no agreement likely on the four-year deal that has been on the table for some 18 months, prompting the player's representative to explore the legal implications of following Andy Webster's lead when he left Hearts two years ago.
Under Article 17 of Fifa's regulations for the status and transfer of players, a player who signed a contract before the age of 28 is entitled to buy himself out of the contract three years after the deal was signed. Lampard is currently in that "unprotected" period though, technically, he should have served notice of any desire to leave Chelsea within 15 days of the final league game of last season.
That would leave him open to "disciplinary measures" from Fifa, though he might consider that a risk worth taking. Webster was guilty of a similar breach, though it only cost him a ban for the first two weeks of the 2007-08 season, with the final compensation figure granted to Hearts on appeal at CAS for a player who earned around €314,882 a year only totalling some €188,929.
Lampard and his adviser have only looked into the possibility of pursuing that course of action and continue to consider their options, though Chelsea's reluctance to sanction the player's sale has left him in limbo.
"The situation is ongoing," said Kenyon. "We have always maintained that we want Frank to stay and an offer was made to that effect. That offer is still on the table. Frank is under contract and he still has one year to run on that. We'd like to hope we can reach an agreement but, if we can't, we have always worked on the basis that Frank sees out the terms of his contract. Chelsea has made its position very clear to Internazionale and they have come back now with a financial offer. That will be rejected."
While Chelsea's offer of a four-year deal for a player who has already turned 30 appear generous, Lampard has been seeking a five-year contract since negotiations first began two seasons ago. While he has no complaints with the new manager at Stamford Bridge, Luiz Felipe Scolari, relations with Kenyon appear to have broken down, leaving the midfielder with three options: sign a pre-contract agreement with Inter to join under the Bosman ruling next summer, or relax his stance and sign the four-year deal on offer at Stamford Bridge. The third path - to leave under the Webster ruling - would be the most complicated, and most inflammatory in terms of his relationship with the club's supporters.
Chelsea will feel they retain a position of strength given that they possess the player's registration. Furthermore, while Hearts were ultimately deeply frustrated by the relatively small figure they received for a player they had valued at €5 million, the fact that Webster's case dragged out for some 17 months before CAS reached their conclusion in January would be unsettling for the player and the buying club.
Fifa had originally decreed that Webster should pay a sum of €787,284 representing the player's wages over the final 12 months of his Hearts contract, his earning potential and legal costs. The world football governing body were highly critical of CAS's ruling - Sepp Blatter claimed it would have "far reaching and damaging effects on the game as a whole" - and, with that in mind, could potentially order Lampard to pay considerably more than the fee currently proposed by Inter to conclude the transfer in a more conventional way.
Any Fifa ruling could, of course, be reduced by CAS again, yet Lampard, and effectively Inter, would risk the possibility that the final amount needed to secure the transfer could prove exorbitant.
Inter remain confident that, despite the Londoners' knockback, they can still prise Lampard to Italy. "Jose Mourinho is still confident of securing his signing," said the Inter assistant coach, Beppe Baresi. The Italian club will return with an improved offer for the midfielder in the days to come, though they are likely to get the same response.
Meanwhile, Barcelona believe they have concluded a deal worth up to €18.3 million for Alexander Hleb, although Arsenal, the midfielder's current employers, insist that nothing has yet been agreed.
The north London club had received and deflected an offer of €15.1 million from Barcelona for the player and indicated that a figure of close to €22.6 million would be required to prise him away. Barcelona, though, have returned with a bid of €15.1 million up front and a further €3.1 million in add-ons, subject to the fulfilment of performance-related targets, and they are confident that it will be sufficient for them to be able to announce Hleb's capture in the coming days.
Hleb, who joined Arsenal from Stuttgart for €14.1 million in July 2005, has made no secret of his desire to leave and once a proposed move to Internazionale had collapsed after the Italian club replaced Roberto Mancini, the manager who wanted him, with Jose Mourinho, he turned his attentions towards Spain. One of Hleb's agents, Uli Ferber, said that it was "a great honour and a privilege" for his client to have been linked to Real Madrid but, despite interest from Bayern Munich, it is Barcelona who have made the running for him recently.
It was reported in Spain that Txiki Begiristain, Barcelona's technical director, had travelled to see Hleb at the end of May after his Belarus side had drawn 2-2 with Germany in a friendly, while there have been several discussions between the Spaniards and Arsenal's hierarchy. Barcelona have also indicated that Hleb could expect to enjoy a significant increase on his Arsenal salary at Camp Nou.
Arsenal have already lost the midfielder Mathieu Flamini on a Bosman free transfer to Milan and there is also a growing acceptance that Emmanuel Adebayor will be allowed to leave if an offer in excess of €37.8 million were to arrive for him. The club have fought to keep the striker, who scored 30 goals in all competitions for them last season, but they have grown tired of his public flirtations with leading European clubs, most notably Barcelona. Milan is his other major suitor.
It is questionable whether Barcelona could afford to make a sufficiently attractive offer to Arsenal for Adebayor, on top of paying the money for Hleb. Although they raised €10.1 million from the sale of Deco to Chelsea at the end of last month, they would need to recoup further funds through the departures of Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho.
Arsenal have lined up a replacement for Hleb in Samir Nasri, the France and Marseille midfielder. Like Hleb, he is an instinctive and skilful player, with pace, vision and a good temperament. Nasri's last contract at Marseille contained a buy-out clause of €17 million but Arsenal are ready to announce a deal for slightly less.
Guardian Service
