What the back pages of the papers say - July 9

Jose Mourinho tried to wreck Luiz Felipe Scolari's first big day as Chelsea manager by making a £7.9million bid for Frank Lampard. Inter Milan put in their first concrete offer for the England midfielder yesterday afternoon after Scolari had insisted Lampard was staying at Stamford Bridge.

Also: Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan yesterday lambasted a Football League tribunal decision that Tottenham should pay just £700,000 for teenage prodigy John Bostock, describing the amount as ‘scandalous’.

Alexander Hleb moved a step closer to leaving Arsenal yesterday, but talks over teammate Emmanuel Adebayor’s move to AC Milan reached deadlock over his £36m price tag.

Crocked but in demand: Ronaldo has apparently signed for Real Madrid

THE SUN

Frank Lampard and Chelsea are at war after an amazing six-hour wrangle left the midfielder on a knife-edge. New Blues boss Big Phil Scolari insisted Lampard is staying. But SunSport can reveal club owner Roman Abramovich has refused to sanction the new five-year deal Lampard is demanding.

DAILY MIRROR

Frank Lampard is poised to quit Chelsea after going to war with Luiz Felipe Scolari. The furious midfielder accosted chief executive Peter Kenyon over new boss Scolari's televised claims that he will be staying at Stamford Bridge.

Also: Ramon Calderon has boasted to Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal that Cristiano Ronaldo has already signed for Real Madrid.

THE TIMES

Chelsea turned down an £8million offer for Frank Lampard from Inter Milan last night, but relations between the England midfield player and his club remained strained after a turbulent 24 hours. Luiz Felipe Scolari found himself at the centre of the row in his first media conference in England, with Lampard denying his new manager's claims that he had committed his long-term future to Stamford Bridge.

THE GUARDIAN

Luiz Felipe Scolari feels his Chelsea squad is too big and despite his assurance that Frank Lampard's departure would not be the first step towards trimming it down, the midfielder's future remained uncertain last night. The new manager insisted that Lampard is happy and intends to stay but Internazionale and their manager Jose Mourinho, who worked with Lampard at the club, have made the England player their priority signing and submitted a 10million euro (£7.95million) bid for him last night, which Chelsea immediately rejected.

Also: Official confirmation that Sri Lanka will tour England next summer has sparked a wholesale rebellion by Sri Lanka players because of a direct clash with their commitments to the Indian Premier League.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Frank Lampard was last night on the brink of leaving Chelsea for Inter Milan after an extraordinary training-ground confrontation with Peter Kenyon, the club's chief executive. As the Italian club came in with an increased offer of £8million - which Chelsea said they would reject - it became abundantly clear that the England midfielder was far from happy.

DAILY STAR

Frank Lampard's contract row with Chelsea erupted into open warfare last night. New boss Big Phil Scolari had promised Lamps he would get him the five-year contract he wanted - so he could end his career at Chelsea.

Also: Ramon Calderon insists Real Madrid have already netted Cristiano Ronaldo.

DAILY EXPRESS

Frank Lampard is ready to quit Chelsea after a row with chief executive Peter Kenyon. Lampard has privately accused Luiz Felipe Scolari of misrepresenting his words after the Chelsea boss said yesterday the player had told him he was happy to stay at the club.

Also: South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has stoked up the Test series with England by suggesting the spectre of Andrew Flintoff will haunt some of the home players this week at Lord's.

THE INDEPENDENT

He may have only referred to himself yesterday as the "So-so" One - rather than the Special One - but Luiz Felipe Scolari made it clear that he will take a ruthless approach to culling Chelsea's squad with up to six players set to leave this summer. However, Scolari insisted that he does not want Frank Lampard - or Didier Drogba - to be among those and said that the midfielder had told him that he was "happy" and wants to stay at the club for "many years".