Manchester United and Arsenal remain keen on Chelsea star Frank Lampard, despite him now being offered terms to stay with the Blues.
The Daily Mail says after the Champions League win against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena, chief executive Ron Gourlay went on record to say that contracts for Lampard and Cole would be finalised 'by September'.
Instead they were kept waiting and Lampard was officially told he was free to leave during a training ground meeting over Christmas.
By then he had offers to sign pre-contract agreements with Claudio Ranieri's Monaco in Ligue 2, Paris Saint-Germain and in America with LA Galaxy.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, a long-time admirer of Lampard, left his calling card with the midfielder.
Arsenal have been presented as another option but Lampard could never cross the divide by joining one of Chelsea's London rivals.
Instead he was convinced his future was in America but that has changed after the remarkable events over the last seven days.