After the fuss I kicked up about Frank Lampard holding out on his previous deal and the amount of money Chelsea finally agreed to pay him, it’s ironic that four years later , the table’s seem to have turned completely. This time, it’s Frank asking to sit down and talk – and Chelsea now probably happier to drag it out.
Four years ago, Frank seemed to be dragging his heels a bit to sign a new deal, with all sorts of speculation around a move elsewhere. The crux of it at the time looked to be not just about a pretty obscene amount of money but also the length of time on that contract. Mind you, to be fair to Frank, he’s more than earnt that salary since.
Now though, four years on and at the age of 34, he’s understandably keen to sort out what’s left of his playing career – and he wants that to be with Chelsea. Our vice-captain says “I would like to end my career there. I feel I can play at the top level for a good few more years. I’d like to sit down and speak with them. I’d love to carry on but it’s a club decision to come and sit down with me. There are now a lot of changes at Chelsea and I’d love to be involved.”
Now, I’ve said it before and I’m more than happy to say again, there is no disputing the importance of Frank Lampard at Chelsea throughout the most successful years in the club’s history. He has been an absolute key figure, not just in our midfield but at the club as a whole. Whether or not Chelsea choose to recognise that contribution in some way is entirely down to them but what they can’t afford to do is be too sentimental on a footballing front.
Firstly, like it or not, at 34 Frank probably isn’t being totally realistic in his suggestion that he can play at the top level for ‘a good few more years’. He isn’t the player he used to be and that won’t suddenly improve dramatically. What is more likely is that we’d get shorter periods of time out of him as time goes on. That’s not to say we need to let him go altogether. I said last season we would probably benefit from using our senior players more wisely rather than giving them 90 minutes week-in-week-out and wondering why we aren’t getting the best from them.
I’ve always been an advocate of giving players Frank’s age a year’s contract at a time and in the time’s of FFP, more than ever I believe this is the way to go. We don’t have unlimited resources and realistically, Frank doesn’t have unlimited time left to play at the top level.
Chelsea – and Frank Lampard – need to think about that.
Blue is the colour
