Leboeuf in £1.2m move to Marseille

Frank Leboeuf flew to Marseille today to finalise a £1.2 million move and then delivered a snub to Blues manager Claudio Ranieri.

Although the French international must still pass a medical and agree personal terms, he hinted it would be a formality.

The 33-year-old defender, signed for Chelsea by formermanager Ruud Gullit in 1996 for £2.5m, said he was glad to be returning to France.

But while he thanked Gullit, club chairman Ken Bates and managing director Colin Hutchinson for giving him the chance of playing in the Premiership, he did not mention Ranieri or previous coach Gianluca Vialli, now at Watford.

He said: "I would like to thank three people - Ken Bates, Colin Hutchinson and my first coach Ruud Gullit."