Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has claimed that women will soon play football in the men's game.

Lampard was promoting his new children's book when he said that he thought women are capable of playing alongside men.

When asked if he thought this would ever happen, he responded:

"I see no reason why not, how the game has developed in women's football in the last five to 10 years has been amazing.

"We were [previously] dinosaurs in the dressing room, it was a man's game, but now we appreciate the skill in women's football."

In 2003, Italian club Perugia made moves to sign Swedish forward Hanna Ljungberg, in a move that would have made her the first female footballer to play alongside men in the professional men's game.

The charismatic president of the club Luciano Gaucci, who was responsible for signing Colonel Gaddafi's son, claimed at the time that there were no rules in Italian football to prevent women from playing alongside men.

But the deal fell through and Hanna Ljungberg never made the move to the men's game.