Rio Ferdinand has revealed that former West Ham teammate and current Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is interested in signing Lionel Messi. Lampard, who helped Chelsea attain Champions League football for next season and also took the club to the FA Cup final in his debut managerial campaign at Stamford Bridge, is reportedly interested in bringing the Barcelona superstar to the Premier League and has expressed an interest in signing him. Messi put most of the top European club on alert after expressing his desire to leave Barcelona this summer. Lionel Messi Transfer News Live Updates.

Messi, 33, announced his decision to Barcelona to leave the club this summer through a burofax. The Argentine’s camp have claimed that Messi will be able to leave the club for free due to a clause in his contract. Barcelona though have explained that the contract expired in May and that clubs will have to pay the 700 million Euros buy-out clause to sign the Argentine. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are said to be the favourites to sign Messi with both club among those very few that can afford the Barcelona star’s wages and also the exorbitant transfer fee. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Fans ‘Clash’ on Twitter After Barcelona Star’s Decision to Leave Club This Summer (See Reactions).

Rio Ferdinand Confirms Chelsea in Race to Sign Lionel Messi

But If Ferdinand is to be believed, Chelsea are also in the race to sign the Messi from Barcelona. The former England and Manchester United centre-back took to twitter to reveal Chelsea’s interest in the attacker. “Just heard Frank Lampard is now in for #messi Some window this if Lamps pulls this off !!” Ferdinand, who also worked alongside Lampard as a football pundit wrote on Twitter.

Chelsea have been quite busy in the transfer window this season and have already completed the signing of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech. The club is also said to have agreed deals for Ben Chilwell from Leicester City, Thiago Silva and Maland Sarr as free agents and is also close to making a deal for Kai Harvetz.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2020 01:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).