Chelsea and Inter in battle for Frank Lampard

Lampard is top of Inter Milan's summer shopping list while the Stamford Bridge club are desperate to keep the England midfield star.

The Premier League runners-up today denied speculation that 29-year-old Lampard had already agreed a deal with the new Serie A champions, who are expected to enlist former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho as manager for next season to replace Roberto Mancini.

Lampard and his representatives have been in negotiations with Chelsea for some months and it is understood that the club have tempted him with an improved offer to stay at Stamford Bridge beyond his existing deal, which runs out next year.

Lampard himself has repeatedly expressed his desire to stay with the club that signed him from West Ham and turned him into a major star.

But the opportunity to link up again with Mourinho, a manager he rates highly, is tempting and it is believed that the Italian giants have already made contact with Lampard's agents.

It is understood, though, that Lampard wants to focus completely on Moscow and will make no firm decision on his immediate future until the weekend at the earliest.

Chelsea's preparations for tomorrow night's match were rocked when Inter claimed they had agreed a £7million deal to sign Lampard. Reports emanating from the Serie A champions claimed that the England international will move to the San Siro on a four-year contract worth £150,000-a-week.

Yet despite the claims leaking out of Italy, Lampard's agent Steve Kutner claimed: "Nobody has talked to me and I am good friends with the [Inter] owner, Massimo Moratti. I took Paul Ince there, I took Patrick Vieira there - if there was something on I am sure I would know.

"The situation is that Frank has got a massive match on Wednesday, after which he needs to spend time with his family, because he has not had a real opportunity to do that since his mother died.

"He needs to get away and sort out his personal life and when he has done that we will sit down and talk about his future in football. After that we will talk to Chelsea and that is as far as we have got - there is nothing in the pipeline and I don't know why this has surfaced now."

Inter's confidence about a possible deal was leaked to the Italian media last night amid reports that it came about after talks between Moratti and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

Grant is due to give his press conference this afternoon, but it will now be overshadowed by more questions about Lampard's future.