Talk of Lampard move hots up

Soccer:Frank Lampard could be heading for the Stamford Bridge exit door after reportedly turning down a massive contract offer at Chelsea.

According to the News of the World, the England midfielder has rejected a multi-million pound deal, which eclipsed the £121,000-a-week (€180,000) contracts given to Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack and would have made him the highest earner in the club's history.

Contract negotiations between Lampard and Chelsea have been drawn out and this latest twist could see the Italian giants Juventus and then Spanish side Barcelona make a move for the 28-year-old.

Juve boss Claudio Ranieri has a good relationship with Lampard following his spell as Chelsea manager and would love to take him to Turin this summer.

Lampard has also been constantly linked with Barcelona and it is thought his wife favours a move to Catalunya.

Earlier this week, Lampard admitted he was frustrated by negotiations with Chelsea, who are reportedly stunned by his demands.

He said: "I have two years left on my contract at Chelsea; that's the way it is. They have no necessity to come and offer me anything so I just carry on and get on with it as you have to as a player.

"In an ideal world I would have done it (signed a new deal) three weeks ago. But it is not an ideal world is it?"

Owen Hargreaves finally completed the formalities of his move to Manchester United yesterday and admitted, "It's been a long time coming."

The 26-year-old England midfielder has signed a four-year contract with the Premier League champions, completing a move from Bayern Munich that was agreed in May but not formally ratified until yesterday.

Canada-born Hargreaves told his new club's official website, www.manutd.com, "It was probably the worst-kept secret in football, but it's great to be here. I think it's great to finally reach a positive conclusion. Especially after all the time and energy that's been put in from everyone involved."

Hargreaves' transfer fee is believed to be in the region of £17 million (€25 million).

A broken leg suffered in Bundesliga action back in September meant an extended lay-off and forced him to miss England's first competitive games under their new coach Steve McClaren. But Bayern had insisted the player was not for sale, before finally giving way and allowing the deal to go ahead.