Chelsea give pay boost to Leboeuf

World Cup winning French defender Frank Leboeuf has agreed a massive pay rise with Chelsea which should keep him at the London club for three more seasons.

The player is in contention to play for France on Wednesday night against Armenia and has been vocal in his arguments for a pay rise since he won the World Cup with France last July.

The new agreement puts him into the top five earners at the club whose wage bill tops £24 million a season. Leboeuf will complete the formalities of the new deal next week and was a former transfer target for Liverpool and Real Madrid. He has been very successful in England since a £2.5 million move from Strasbourg in 1996 and has won four trophies in the past two seasons with Chelsea. His new pay deal is worth over £1.5 million a season.