Essien to move to Barcelona?

Barcelona are preparing a swoop for Chelsea's Michael Essien and three of his teammates, according to Catalan press.

The others are Frank Lampard, John Terry and Arjen Robben.

DiarioSport claims that the spine of Jose Mourinho's Blues are frustrated by their continued failure in Europe and want a new challenge.

Essien, is probably the least likely player among the targets to leave the 'Bridge'. Alongside Didier Drogba, the Ghana star has been Chelsea's brightest light this season, impressing in defence as well as in his favoured central midfield position. He has only been at Chelsea for two seasons and his stock will have risen since his £24.4 million move from Lyon in the summer of 2005.

A move for Lampard has long been tipped, with the England midfielder learning Spanish on account of his partner Elen Rives - who is from Barcelona - and available for a cut-price fee at the end of the season once his contract ceases to be protected.

England captain Terry would be the ideal signing for Frank Rijkaard as he looks to shore-up a leaky defence, something ageing summer signing Lilian Thuram has been unable to do. The no-nonsense centre back is embroiled in contract negotiations with Chelsea which appear to have stalled after the club refused to countenance his demands for a lifelong deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the world.

Robben has failed to live up to his early form at Stamford Bridge after a series of injuries and indifferent form and has been linked with a number of clubs, including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and even Spurs. But it is hard to see him as anything more than a squad player at Barca, who already boast a wealth of attacking riches, although the less physical nature of La Liga could see him recover the spark that made him one of the Premiership's most feared attacking players two seasons ago.

Barcelona have also been linked with Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito, Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, Arsenal defender Kolo Toure and Manchester United striker Guiseppe Rossi, currently on-loan at Parma.