Following senior Chelsea officials ruling out an extension on his £150,000-a-week deal, the veteran midfielder is set to end a 12-year association with the Blues by joining the MLS
Chelsea veteran Frank Lampard has agreed terms on a move to LA Galaxy at the end of the season, Goal.com understands.
The midfielder has been told by the three-time Premier League champions that he will not be offered an extension on his current £150,000-a-week deal when it expires at the end of the season, bringing an end to a 12-year association with the Stamford Bridge club.
As revealed by Goal.com earlier this month, Manchester United and Arsenal are both monitoring Lampard's situation, while Everton have already had a three-year offer rejected - but the MLS side appear to have won the race.
"It's all but done," a source in the United States told Goal.com.
An LA Galaxy spokesman would not confirm or deny the news, only telling Goal.com that head coach Bruce Arena publicly acknowledged interest in Lampard on Thursday.
"I wouldn't be surprised if over the next week or so, we're going to have some kind of decision we're going to make with a Designated Player," Arena told reporters.
"We wouldn't rule [a move for Lampard] out. It's always a possibility."
Lampard, Chelsea' second-highest all-time goalscorer, was free to sign a pre-contract with a foreign club from the start of January, and is open to a move to the States for personal as well as professional reasons.
During Chelsea's tour in North America last summer, Lampard expressed an interest in playing in MLS but admitted that he would wait to see if Chelsea would extend his contract first.
"I am not sure [about a future in MLS]," Lampard said. "I have another year on my contract at Chelsea and we have a big season ahead of us with the Super Cup and the Club World Cup in December. It's up to Chelsea to speak with me about my future and, at that time, I'll speak with them.
"I wouldn't rule anything out at the moment."
http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusive/2013/01/18/3680809/lampard-agrees-terms-on-la-galaxy-move?source=breakingnews&ICID=HP_BN_4[ 此帖被Gabriel在2013-01-19 15:41重新編輯 ]
