Pay shocker for Lampard

Lampard, who signed from West Ham United almost three years ago for £11million, and has two years left on his current contract, earns less than half as much as the team-mates with whom he seeks equality.

After the debacle of their 3-1 Champions League semi-final defeat by Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday, and the continuing chaos surrounding who will be manager next season, a stalemate in contract extension talks with a valuable, high-profile player was the last thing the unsettled club needed.

That situation could be exacerbated further by the growing interest in Lampard from Inter Milan, who sent two of their most senior officials to assess him in Monaco.

Inter general manager Gabriele Oriali was accompanied by assistant director of sport Marco Branca, and they returned home convinced that an attempt should be made to purchase Lampard in the summer.

Inter have been tracking the player all season and Tuesday's examination was simply a final look before they set their recruitment targets for next season.

The Italian club are willing to offer a choice of player - possibly Holland midfielder Andy van der Meyde or even powerful left-sided Brazil striker Adriano - to reduce the cash requirement in a valuation that is expected to be more than £15m.

As Sportsmail revealed last February, Inter have been tracking Lampard for months and scouts had already prepared a detailed dossier on his suitability for the Italian league.

Club president Massimo Moratti would have no trouble dealing with Lampard's representative as Kutner's clients include Paul Ince, who was captain of Inter for two years.

The preferred option of the player is to sign a new contract and stay at Chelsea and he admitted as much in an interview with Sportsmail immediately before the Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal, in which he was to score a vital, second-leg goal.

'I wouldn't rule it out (playing abroad) but the way I feel just now I'm very settled here,' said Lampard. 'My family's here and my girlfriend is living here and I'm very happy.

'If it remained that way then I would stay here (at Chelsea) for the rest of my career, for sure. Going abroad is something I might do, but not definitely.'

If talks do not resume and a compromise cannot be found, Lampard could simply choose to sit tight, forcing the club into a situation in which they would have to offer a new deal or risk losing him for a considerably smaller fee than they could command at the end of this season.

As if the Lampard situation was not demoralising enough, Chelsea are also bracing themselves for more bad news today with UEFA expected to hand Marcel Desailly a three-match ban for elbowing Monaco striker Fernando Morientes during Tuesday's defeat.

The Spain forward added his voice to the criticism of the Chelsea captain last night when he taunted Desailly that his advancing years were the reason he resorted to foul play.

Morientes said: 'Desailly was trying to upset me throughout the game constantly, but I never responded to his provocation. If UEFA do the right thing after watching the video then his season in Europe would be over.

'The problem for Desailly is that he is no longer the player he was, and his age has caught up with him. I have lost respect for what he did.'

Desailly's Chelsea position, meanwhile, may come under threat with news that £17m-rated Argentina centre half Walter Samuel wants to leave Roma and join the London club.