Lyon want to sign Leboeuf from Chelsea

Olympique Lyon are set to start Chelsea's summer sales after a £4.5 million bid for central defender Frank Leboeuf.

The 1998 World Cup winner is set to leave Chelsea with talks taking place between the Premiership club and Lyon who are in contention to land a Champions League place for next season later this week. Chelsea turned down a bid from OM in February to keep the player for their Champions League bid but that is now over. He is a good passer but is positionally weak and a poor header of the ball. FC Barcelona expolited his lack of aerial ability to run up a 5-1 win last week as Chelsea tried to defend a 3-1 Champions League quarter final lead.

Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli has sanctioned a mass clear out at the London club after recent failures in the league and Europe have highlighted the tired and aging nature of a side who were very poor in a defeat yesterday at Manchester United. That loss prompted Vialli to tell the press that he knew which players were willing to stay at Chelsea and Leboeuf's fate was sealed last December when he was red carded in a home defeat by Leeds that knocked them out of the title race. The French defender was banned for stamping on Leeds forward Harry Kewell as he left the pitch following his dismissal and Vialli was furious. A week later the club had spent £2.5 million to sign Brazilian defender Emerson Thome from Sheffield Wednesday.

Chelsea hope to sell Leboeuf - who joined the club as an unknown from Racing Strasbourg in 1996 - to precipitate a summer of change at the club with Vialli admitting his own position is not safe. The manager has yet to start talks on a new contract and the poor form Chelsea have show regularly this season after massive expecditure on players means Vialli could well be replaced.

Leboeuf's fellow World Cup winners Marcel Desailly - to SS Lazio - and Didier Deschamps - to OM - are also set to leave the Premiership. Striker Chris Sutton is also unlikely to be at Chelsea come August.