After months of rumour mongering and contracted negotiations over a bigger deal, Inter Milan have finally announced that they have officially made a bid for Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.

It is believed that the Nerazzurri have already sent out a fax to the English clubs hierarchy outlining an initial offer of £6.5 million and paving the way for one of the biggest exits in Chelsea's recent history.

This was always going to be a likely outcome but for Blues fans today will be seen as milestone where yet another piece of Chelsea Pre-Abramovich is removed from the club. With the England man looking set to leave this Summer it will leave just John Terry and Carlo Cudicini as a duo already at the club before the 2003 take over.

It was reported as far back as late-April that Abramovich was ready to offer Lampard a staggering £150,000 a week to keep the playmaker at the club but even as Roman made this bold statement for many it still did not seem as though Lampard himself felt that his future lay in SW6.

He claimed that he would wait until the end of the season before opening up new contract talks – such was the pressure on the club at the time as they bid for both Premiership and European titles – but as both competitions slipped from their grasp primary talks were nowhere to be seen and the inevitable began to dawn.

A further twist came however just before the final stages of the season when Lampard's mother sadly past away. During this time the 30-year-old played a vital part in taking Chelsea to their first Champions League final and as both player and fans shared in an emotional evening at Stamford Bridge as the Blues knocked out Liverpool at the semi-final stage it seemed, for the first time that perhaps the bond between player and club was enough for him to stay.

A month and a half has passed since that time now and the raw emotions of that evening have faded, Jose Mourinho has joined Inter Milan as coach and Chelsea were foiled by Manchester United in Moscow. Both of these events must play a role in what seems to have become Lampard's decision to leave West London for Sunnier shores and who can blame him really, of course the fans love him at The Bridge but in today's footballing climate this so often is not the be all and end all for so many players. Lampard is not the first player to make such a decision under these circumstances and he most certainly will not be the last.

Other factors also play a part in the transfer, one of which being the amount of time left to run on his contract. Next season would be his last under his current deal which means that although the reported offer of £6.5 million is less than Chelsea would like to receive for the midfielder it is worth more than losing him on a free next July.

This will be a massive blow to the Blues who are yet to tie striker Didier Drogba to the cub for the foreseeable future and if both of their top scorers leave the club Chelsea's odds of recapturing the title will undoubtedly lengthen.

The club have also recently signed Deco from Barcelona for a similar amount, the transfer of Lampard would cover this outlay and also mean that their midfield does not become over-crowded for next season and with a suspected offer for Kaka also on the horizon, it may just be the perfect time for Chelsea's number eight to leave.

One thing is for sure however, if Lampard does head for Inter, his addition would certainly make them strong favourites in the betting to retain their crown next season and what is more - as sod law dictates – also make Chelsea and Inter a good bet to meet in the Champions league next season!

Written by John Ford - A Freelance Football Journalist

It is being reported all over the press that Peter Crouch is on his way back to Portsmouth in a £11million deal but is this a good move for the England front man?

To put it simply - the answer is yes, yes it is.

The 6ft7” striker has been linked with a move to the South Coast all summer. Despite reports linking him with a move to Spurs in part-exchange for Robbie Keane or as part of the prolonged Gareth Barry saga, the player himself has never wavered from his desire to a return to the club with whom he played for nearly a season in the 2001/2002 season.

It was of course Harry Redknapp who sold Crouch to help fund Portsmouth's promotion but the manager still rated the player. He brought him in to Southampton when he was trying to keep the club in the top flight and his 12 goals in 27 goals nearly did the trick. What it did do though was put him back in the eyes of top clubs and Liverpool came in and took him to Anfield for £7million.

He became a cult figure at Anfield scoring some important goals for the club and earning international recognition. He has scored regularly at the top table and was England's leading scorer during qualification for Euro 2008, he even scored at the 2006 World Cup, so he has clearly shown he can do it.

This season however he has been relegated down the pecking order at Liverpool. With the signing of Fernando Torres the club added a World Class striker who the gaffer didn't see as a good partner for Crouch. This has left the England front man looking for regular football and he had offers but his heart was set on a move to the FA Cup winners.

Crouch will link up with fellow England striker Jermain Defoe at Fratton Park to put together a 'little and large' front duo. He has been sold on the idea of the two of them working together up front and is excited at the ambitious plans that the club have for the future.

Crouch spurning Spurs and Aston Villa for Portsmouth makes a lot of sense. At Portsmouth he'll be part of a dynamic partnership on paper, at Spurs it isn't sure whether he'd be part of the first choice pair and at Villa they play a 4-3-3 with John Carew already on staff.

Portsmouth are in the UEFA Cup and it keeps Crouch involved in a European competition. The club are also one with exciting attacking players who are also being heavily linked with another England squad member Shaun Wright-Phillips. If that one comes to fruition then he'll be fed chances from SWP, Niko Krancjar and Lassana Diarra, if that trio doesn't excite you then very few will.

Peter Crouch & Jermain Defoe - two names I predict will be heavily picked in fantasy teams up and down the land come August.

So Aston Villa are willing to sell Gareth Barry but only at the price they believe he is worth. The player is starting to spit his dummy out of the pram, who is in the right?

Gareth Barry has been with the club for a long time, his loyalty isn't really in question. Well apart from the time he'd agreed to sign for Portsmouth before Martin O'Neill came in and persuaded him to stay at Villa Park because he had a vision of building something special that is.

He is under contract for another two years, a contract he signed knowing full well what it entailed. It made sure he was a Villa player for a considerable amount of time and they would pay him a lot of money for the privilege of owning his footballing rights.

Now the player thinks he has deserved and move and has complained publicly that the club haven't made enough of an effort to keep him. He says that Martin O'Neill was too busy working for the BBC over the summer covering Euro 2008 that he didn't care about the player.

Now I'm not sure what you think but if it came down to a straight 'Who do I believe' contest between Gareth Barry and Martin O'Neill then I know who I'm backing – and it isn't the last man to wear the England captain's armband.

Waging a public war with Martin O'Neill and Aston Villa is a pretty bad idea. The Villa chairman Randy Lerner is known to be a big fan of O'Neill and is willing to back him to the hilt. So if O'Neill deals with Barry by setting a high price for him and openly stating that he can only leave for that price then so be it.

Gareth Barry will probably leave the club for a price between £15million and £18million but Barry didn't have to drag the club through the mud. Whether moving to Liverpool is a good move for him, I'm not too sure. Aston Villa are one of the clubs knocking on the door of the big four and Liverpool are the club most likely to fall out of that select group of clubs.

I look forward to seeing how the Villa fans react when Barry returns to Villa Park next season. I think he'll get a far worse reception than he thought he'd get and it is all his fault, not Matin O'Neill's.

If you have any feelings on this then please talk about it on the Gareth Barry thread on the Forums.

I love football. I watch a lot of football. Sky and Setanta are both in my household and together cost me the best part of 50 notes each month. On a typical weekend I will watch the early game on Saturday on Sky, nipping out to the chippy for a battered sausage, saveloy, chips and a curry sauce at half time. I'll follow that up by watching Gillette Soccer Saturday with Jeff and the boys and then they'll be a 5:15PM game on Setanta, which is usually a pretty rubbish game, yet I'll watch it anyway. Match of the Day is often watched to round off the night taking us into Sunday.

On Sunday we start with the show formally known as Jimmy Hill's Sunday Supplement, but since Jimmy has been put out to rest by Sky it is usually hosted by Brian Woolnough. Then it's Goals on Sunday whilst I'm playing around on the internet and thinking about moving from my pit. Sunday usually sees two lives games and when that is all said and done it is 6PM and I'm often still in bed - certainly during those cold winter months.

Then add in a Monday Night game, Champions League Football and UEFA Cup action. Now usually I don't bother with the UEFA Cup but this season with Portsmouth being involved I'll be keeping an even keener eye on it. When all is said and done now I'll probably be watching 8-10 live games a week.

Now I know it is my choice to watch it and I do enjoy them but because I get this option - I don't go to as many games as I did before. Again it is my choice but I am becoming more of an armchair fan due to costs involved. Travelling down to Fratton Park and a ticket would set me back the best part of £50 and that isn't including food and drink or anything like that. I'd no doubt want a take-away when I get home as well and the whole day would be £60-£70. For that price I could get Sky & Setanta for a month and a half.

I love going to watch football, I loved being a Season Ticket holder at Fratton Park but the rising cost of games has led me to watching more non-league football on weeknights and staying in at the weekends to watch the best games on TV. I am lucky that Portsmouth are one of the most picked teams for live games so I can still watch us most weeks when you throw in internet feeds from foreign channels.

Does the fact I see us live less make me less of a supporter? I say no because I have other aspirations, like having my own place and that is going to cost a lot of money here in the south of England! I'd be interested to hear what you all think. Please join in the discussion on the Talk Football Forum Thread

Liverpool are quickly becoming this Summer's most active team in the transfer market after revealing that not only are they after Aston Villa's captain Gareth Barry but they are also in the market for Tottenham's highly rated striker Robbie Keane.

The Kopites are also reportedly looking into a swoop for Valencia duo David Silva and David Villa with reports suggesting that the pair would be available for around £10 and £17 million respectively although their superb performances in the European Championships last month will undoubtedly have raised their asking price significantly.

It is suggested that Rafa Benitez has been handed a decent sized transfer kitty for this Summer's expenditure but the depth to which his funds will stretch will no where near fulfil the demands of these players current owners and the Spaniard may need to sell before he can enter the race to sign such hot property before the start of next season.

One player which is looking destined for the Anfield door is that of Xabi Alonso who is set to make a £16 million move to Juventus but the Spanish midfielder has been given a three-week break following his European exertions which could foil plans of a quick and painless signing of any of the above.

The news that Liverpool are now in the hunt for Keane will be a huge blow for the odds on Tottenham Hotspur winning the race without the big four and is the most likely reason that the North Londoners have slapped a huge asking price of £20 million on the Irishman's head (anyone would think that it was Chelsea leading an approach for the striker).

With Keane leading the line last season Spurs managed to claim the Carling Cup and with it becoming the only side inside the Capital to claim a trophy last time out. The former Inter Milan man himself was influential in that campaign, claiming 23 goals himself including an absolute screamer which earned Tottenham a draw late on against Chelsea the next time the sides met following the Wembley finale in a thrilling 4-4 encounter.

Liverpool do however possess a blue chip to throw into the bargain in this one with Juande Ramos understood to be an avid admirer of lanky striker Peter Crouch. The Reds have already turned down an offer from Portsmouth thought to be around £8 million for the England international and this should act as a clear indication that Rafa is considering offering cash plus Crouch in an attempt to force Spurs' hand in the deal.

Crouch himself would surely be willing to move to Tottenham with his roots firmly in the South and with the limited appearances he was given last season it could be in both parties interests for a transfer to take place although saying that Spurs are not exactly short of a striker or two as it is!

Keane is known to have supported Liverpool as a boy when he was growing up in Southern Ireland and the prospect of Champions League football once again will no doubt add interest to a possible move.

If Tottenham do seal a deal with Liverpool for the speedy frontman it could mean a cooling off from the Merseyside club for the services of Villa who is also known to be attracting interest from White Hart lane and the funds from Keane's potential transfer would go a long way to forcing through a move for Villa.

Any transfer for Villa on it's own would increase the odds for Tottenham becoming front-runners for a Champions League spot but it would also mean that their strength in depth on the attacking front would be second to none.

With the introduction of Luka Modric and Dos Santos this Summer already, an addition of Villa would certainly excite Spurs supporters and also tempt many other supporters to consider a cheeky punt on them qualifying for the holey grail that is the Champions League next season.

Written by John Ford - A Freelance Football Journalist

So Euro 2008 is over and what have we learnt from the tournament?

We have learnt that the beautiful game is alive and kicking. Euro 2008 was a terrific tournament flush with entertaining games. We opened up slowly but on the third night the games sparked into life, we got The Netherlands v Italy. I sat here and work with my colleague Harry watching it and to be blunt we were blown away by the quality of football on show. The Dutch won 3-0 and they impressed everyone no end.

A day later we saw the eventual winners Spain dismantle Russia and we knew we had a couple of good sides in this thing. Croatia then beat Germany for the first upset of the tournament following a very professional 2-1 victory. The Dutch then followed up their Italian display with arguable and even better performance against the French on a Friday night, beating them 4-1. These Dutch were special.

Turkey would then provide a little taste of the drama they would provide in Euro 2008. They had already beaten Switzerland in the game that shouldn't of been played as the pitch was unplayable. The Turks won it deep into injury time, something they would do again.

That Czech Republic v Turkey game will go down in history as one of the best finishes of an international match ever. Both teams needed to win to qualify, a draw would've taken us to a dramatic penalty shoot-out after just 90 minutes to decide who qualified. The Czech's were 2-0 up with 20 minutes to go and still had the lead going into the final three minutes. What happened next was just breathtaking.

Petr Cech made the howler of all howlers as he failed to claim a cross allowing Nihat to stab home into in the unguarded net. The Turks didn't celebrate though, they went and got the ball and ran back to the centre circle, they thought they could win it. Two minutes later and Nihat was in, having broken the offside trap and the Turkish striker with glory beckoning opened up his body and fired a curling effort in off the underside of the crossbar, Turkey had won it against odds.

That was a quite exhilarating game that was football at its most dramatic. It summed up the tournament for me, a team never giving up and just going for it. It was a major tournament that favoured the attacking teams and not the defensive ones. Teams opened up and played. Did the weather help? You bet it did.

With cool and often rainy conditions, players were less tired and could go for the full 90 minutes. The last major tournaments saw a World Cup in Germany, which was going through a major heatwave, a European Championships in Portugal, again another heatwave, and then in 2002 the sultry conditions of Japan and Korea.

In the knock-out stage we saw yet more outstanding play. Portugal went out to Germany is another barnstorming game. Croatia will still be unsure how they failed to make the semi's, scoring and taking the lead in the 119th minute is usually a pretty good time to score. With only about 45 seconds left of the game, your money would be on them to hold out but they were playing those Turks and an equaliser was coming. Turkey won the shoot-out.

The beautiful Dutch were up next against the Russians and boy did the Russians do a job on them. The Netherlands had gone from sixth favourites to firm favourites following their total destruction of the so called 'Group of Death'. They faced Russia as the firm people's favourites for their wonderful style of play, the problem was they just failed to perform on the night as Russia beat them at their own game. An upbeat attacking style that the Dutch failed to live with. The favourites were out.

Spain then beat Italy on penalties in a pretty lacklustre final quarter-final.

The semi's were really a tale of two games. Germany and Turkey played out a thoroughly exciting and entertaining game in which the German's were lucky to go through. An injury and suspension riddled Turkish side gave Germany a quite fantastic game and deserved far more than what they got. Spain crushed Russia in the other game after a pretty lacklustre display from the Russians who clearly saw the Dutch game as their final.

Then we got to the Final which is still pretty fresh in our minds. Germany were never in the game in reality and even though Spain only won by the solitary goal, they never looked in danger of losing the game. They were a good and deserved winner. It was a real shame that the Netherlands and Spain never got to match-up in the semi finals - as that would've been a special game.

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable tournament. Some good teams, some cracking games, some quite frankly unbelievable finishes and some show. Without a doubt it has been the best major tournament of the decade and it coincides with England not being in it. I wonder if that has been a good thing?

JimmyJim1990 asked on the forum who did we prefer watching football on, BBC or ITV? I have to say it wasn't a difficult decision for me...

BBC hands down and that is despite Motty.

John Motson v Clive Tyldesley - Close win for ITV

Motty is just past it and despite Clive's love affair with Manchester United and that night in Barcelona - he's better.

Mark Lawrenson v David Pleat - Close win for BBC

I don't really like Lawro but David Pleat is well erm...David Pleat

Gary Lineker v Steve Rider - Tie

I like Steve's professionalism and steady pair of hands but I also quite like Gary's laid backness.

Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer, Martin O'Neill v Andy Townsend, Big Sam, Gary Neville et al - Huge victory for BBC

This is where the Beeb comes into her own. Hansen and O'Neill are both at the very peak of studio analysts. Shearer is also better than anyone ITV trots out.

Ads v No Ads - BBC big

I know ads have to be there but we get much less preview on ITV, much less time for Half Time chat and it's just a less pleasant watching experience.

So there we go - BBC is the place I prefer to watch football, like most of the rest of the nation.

So we have culled eight squads and the same amount are playing on - read our TalkFootball predictions here

We start off tonight with Portugal v Germany and the Germans have not impressed at all on their way to the Q/F's. The pre-tournament favourites wouldn't still be in this competition if it wasn't for Lukas Podolski. Gomez has been shocking up top and surely won't play tonight. I fully expect Podolski to start up front alongside Klose. Defensively they've looked solid but a lot depends on the fitness of Frings. If he fails to make it then they have a much worse chance to go through.

As for Portugal, things have been relatively plain sailing for them. No new injury concerns, most of their star players were rested for the game with Switzerland. I don't see a potent threat up top but with Ronaldo and Deco pulling the strings they'll be a match for anyone.

Prediction - Portugal 2-1 Germany - Live on ITV1

Next up sees the surprisingly Croatia entertain the exciting Turkey. Croatia won Group B after they took apart Germany and have impressed everyone so far in this tournament. They have two supreme players in Modric and Kranjcar pulling the strings just like Portugal. The latter is expected to start once more as a second striker. I look forward to watching Pranjic again as he really impressed me in the game with Germany.

Turkey got into this game after that quite dramatic and enthralling match with the Czech Republic on Sunday night. They are riding high on a crest of a wave and can surprise one or two. Nihat has been terrific up front but I'm not sure they can stop Croatia curving them open.

Prediction - Croatia 2-1 Turkey - Live on BBC One

The Dutch are up next as on Saturday night The Netherlands take on Russia. The Dutch have been the team of the tournament and there can be no argument with this. The way they play, with swashbuckling counter-attacking play has been a joy to watch. Ruud van Nistelrooy has been great as a lone target man and with the likes of Van Persie, Robben, Van Der Vaart and the quite irrepressible Sneijder, they have torn teams apart.

The Russians came through as the final qualifiers after beating Sweden on Wednesday night. They looked really good and with this kid Arshavin they have a real talent. Up front they have Pavlyuchenko who has looked dangerous all the way throughout the tournament. However they are up against the cream of the crop...

Prediction - The Netherlands 3-0 Russia - Live on ITV1

On Sunday we see arguably the best game. Spain take on Italy hoping to beat them for the first time in 88 years. The Spanish have long been tagged as a great team on paper but when it comes to the big tournaments they fall short and usually fall-out with one another. This time around there seems to be harmony in the camp though and in Torres & Villa they have the more potent strike duo in Euro 2008.

Over on the opposition we see an Italian team who have been this close to going out but are still here. They will be without Guttuso and Pirlo who are both suspended but they seem to have a hunger, which is something the French seriously did not have. Luca Toni has been a big brute up front but has yet to grab a goal in the tournament. This is my top for the upset.

Prediction - Spain 1-2 Italy - Live on BBC One

To see what others think then check out the thread on the TalkFootball forums. If you haven't joined yet then SignUp and join in and help us create a friendly football forum.

Many were tipping the current Spanish side to be the perennial underachievers to shrug off such an unwanted tag and make the biggest impact on this year's European Championships. Instead it's quickly becoming clear that it's the laid back Dutch side under the helm of Euro-great Marco Van Basten who are really brighten up the tournament - in more ways than one.

Their first match was billed as the first real test of what was deemed the group of death as they took on World Cup holders Italy but in a truly awesome encounter the Dutch managed to turn on the magic and for 90 minutes proved that the so-called 'total football' of the 70's and 80's was not lost on this group of players.

Although their opener controversial - yet legal - there was no doubting over the course of the game that Holland were the better team, showing swagger and strength not just up-front but also in defence. Yes it is true that the Italian's had there chances but the sheer pace of the Dutch break-aways which led to two of their goals just couldn't be stopped by the ageing legs of the Italian squad - the average age of which is the oldest in the history of the competition.

Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder and Van Bronckhorst took their goals well but it wasn't just the big names which performed on the night. Players such as Boulahrouz and Ooijer who have been criticised over their apparent quality - or lack of it - came through as heroes on the night and for once a Dutch side appeared to be playing in unison after so many tournaments when off the pitch antics have grabbed the headlines over the football.

The real test it seemed then was when the Dutch took on the French, another side with age firmly against them but so often a banana skin waiting to trip up an under-prepared side.

This wasn't the case with the Dutch who, after handing out Italy's biggest ever defeat in a major tournament final's produced an equally - if not more spectacular - impressive display as they ran out 4-1 winners thanks to strikes from Kuyt, Van Persie, Robben and the on form Sneijder but let's be honest, who isn't on form for the Netherlands at the moment?

It may seem that I am focusing on the positives a little too much here so okay here goes with the negatives:

Henry's goal.

That's it though, there really is nothing more so far that can be said against the Dutch and looking for negatives would be nigh-on impossible if not a little unfair after two performances like this and that is why so much money will be now bet on Holland to go all the way.

Even when they did concede against France it took them merely one minute to ease back into a two-goal lead with Robben racing down the other end and scoring one of the goals of the tournament from an incredibly acute angle with Henry still milking the French applause.

As already mentioned the Dutch performances so far this year have been truly incredible and even their own players find it a little bewildering. Van Nistelrooy told the BBC,

"We are still trying to get our heads round this.

"We couldn't expect this as we didn't have the best of form before the tournament started.

"Now it seems everything is falling into place, confidence is there and it lifts the team and makes a lot of difference I think" With Robben adding,

"They are great results but we have to stay down to earth. We have one more game in the group but then if we lose we are out and then this is all for nothing."

They are both right, there is just one more game left in the group and that is against a stubborn Romanian side who are not out of a shot of reaching the knock-out stages of the tournament and after the way the group of death has gone so far it would be a wise man who would be betting against them getting a result against the Dutch and sending both Italy and France home early.

Written by John Ford - A Freelance Football Journalist

So some people said that Euro 2008 would be boring without England...I think we can safely put that myth to bed now can't we?

With twenty minutes to go in last night's Czech Republic v Turkey encounter it was all over. The Czech's were going through and the Turks were going to blame the referee for not allowing them to bring on a substitute to replace the injured Emre Gungor. The stories had been written and everyone was ready to pack up and go on to tonight's Group B games when suddenly Turkey decided that it wasn't all over, not by a long shot.

Wardy grabbed a goal back and it was the proverbial game on scenario. The Turks went for it like their lives depended on it. They came forward in waves, six, seven, eight people at a time. It was all hands to the pump, a proper cup tie. They missed chances, great chances, time was ebbing away and then came the howler of all howlers.

A long high lofted cross came into the area which was Petr Cech's all day long. However the Chelsea keeper and the man widely regarded as the best in the world dropped the ball right at the feet of Turkish forward Nihat. He rolled it into the unguarded net and the Czech's had sensationally thrown away a two goal lead.

The Turks though didn't go over the top with the celebrations though, even with just three minutes left they thought they could win it and grabbed the ball and ran back to the centre circle. They would win it when Nihat was put through and fired a shot in off the underside of the bar. Cue pandemonium and a comeback for the ages.

The Turkish keeper still managed to get himself sent off in a frantic last few moments as the Czech's really should've levelled it up. It was football at its very best and as Jon Champion said on the broadcast, 'If a spaceship came direct from Mars and landed on the centre circle then it wouldn't surprise me' - sums it up perfectly.