From being the most aggressive club in the transfer market in recent seasons, Chelsea will find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to fight off bids for Frank Lampard, one of their most influential performers, over the coming weeks. Barcelona are determined to take the England midfield player to the Nou Camp and will test José Mourinho’s resolve with a £15 million bid.

The Catalan club have made it their priority to sign Lampard after deciding that Deco is surplus to requirements. Barcelona have signalled their intentions to regain the Spanish title and Champions League next season by signing Thierry Henry, the forward, for £16.2 million from Arsenal and Yaya Touré, the midfield player, for £6 million from AS Monaco.

Despite Lampard’s status at Stamford Bridge, Barcelona are optimistic that Chelsea will listen to their offer because Lampard has only two years remaining on his contract. They hope to finance the deal by offloading Deco to Inter Milan. However, there remains the intriguing possibility that Barcelona will offer Chelsea the Portugal midfield player in a swap-plus-cash deal.

Deco rose to prominence at the hub of Mourinho’s FC Porto team, who won the Champions League three years ago and the Portuguese coach has praised his former player on a number of occasions.

Lampard has previously expressed his admiration for Barcelona, his wife’s birthplace. He would seek wages in excess of £120,000 a week, matching Henry’s contract.

Mourinho was made aware of the situation this week and while the manager understands the attraction of a move abroad, he is unwilling to let Lampard leave. The midfield player, 29, has been in talks about a new contract and wants to stay at Stamford Bridge, but he is seeking the same £130,000-a-week salary as Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, rejecting the club’s offer of £110,000 a week.

Barcelona’s approach for Lampard is a headache that Mourinho, who has spent more than £200 million on players since taking charge three years ago, may not have wished for after seeing his budget slashed this summer and watching Manchester United commit to spending more than £50 million to strengthen last season’s title-winning squad.