Lampard wants to come to us, says Inter director

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea exit appears to be growing ever-nearer after Inter Milan director Gabriele Oriali claimed the England midfielder wants to join them.

Inter’s new coach Jose Mourinho — Lampard’s former boss at Stamford Bridge — has made no secret of the fact he wants to be re-united with the midfielder and the Italian club are gearing up to make a second bid of around £10 million (€12.5m).

Mourinho also mischievously cranked up the pressure by authorising the publication on Thursday of an interview he did for Ford’s FeelFootball.com debate programme two months ago.

Inter are determined to get their man, even though Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and chairman Bruce Buck both insisted earlier this week that Lampard — who turns 30 in 10 days - was not for sale.

The Londoners have already rejected Inter’s first official bid of £7.9m (€9.85m) but the Italians remain convinced they will succeed.

“We have done everything that was in our means. We cannot, certainly, take him away from Chelsea by force,” Oriali said. “What is certain right now is that the player wants strongly to come to Inter.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho was full of praise for the England star during his interview with Ford’s Feel-Football.com.

“Frank Lampard is a different kind of person, not so extroverted,” Mourinho said.

“He’s the best professional I’ve ever worked with. He’s the player who trains better, has more concentration, more commitment and is always focused on himself.

“He is never happy about his performance, always wants to improve, and always wants to learn.

“If he makes a mistake in a game, the next day in training he wants to stay one more hour to practicse exactly that situation.

“I remember he missed a goal once with a difficult left-foot volley and the next day he was there an hour after training practicing that volley.

“Lampard is incredibly professional. God gave players the talent, and some of them waste this. But some others make themselves better and these are the kind of the players who can last forever.”

Lampard has one year left on his contract and could invoke FIFA’s Article 17 and buy himself out of the club.

But that is likely to cause a major conflict with Chelsea, who expect him to honour the remaining 12 months of his deal if he refuses to sign the extension offer currently on the table.

Chelsea are not prepared to move on their offer of a further four years with wages of £140,000 a week. Lampard is understood to want an additional year and £10,000 a week more.