Back in the summer (you remember that couple of weeks earlier in the year, right?) Frank Lampard was talking up his hopes to extend his stay at Chelsea and I remember commenting on how the tables appeared to have turned, with the club apparently dragging its heels over contract talks. Well, it seems they weren’t so much dragging them as digging them in.
Some months on, we’re now hearing from Frank again – except this time it’s to say he doesn’t think he’ll make it past the summer at Chelsea. No, he doesn’t think his career is at an end, quite the contrary because he continues to insist he still has a few years left at the top level, but he does believe his career at Chelsea may be about to come to a close.
With just about 6 months left on his contract, after a 12 year spell in our midfield, it seems the club have totally shied away from any discussions to keep Lampard at the club, with him confirming “I’m a Chelsea player but at the minute nothing else has been said.”
Mind you, whilst I’d previously suggested one way to go would be a 12-month extension and more conservative use of our older midfielder, the club don’t appear to have broached even that, with Lampard saying “Talks about a one-year or two-year extension don’t exist because nothing has been said and nothing is planned, as far as I know. There have been no talks about anything or about an extension. The ball is in Chelsea’s court. I feel like I have two or three years at least in me at the top level but it is not for me to decide on this one. It’s up to the club. Whatever happens, I have had a great time at Chelsea. Maybe things don’t last forever, although I want it to.
I’m not the kind of player to see out my time and sit with my bum on the bench too much. I want to be involved. That’s my character. I will keep trying to do that, whatever the circumstances. I feel like I’ve had a good year, particularly from where we were in February to playing what I like to think was a big part [in the European Cup success]. Obviously Didier [Drogba] played the biggest part but we were the players who came back in [under Di Matteo], who were out a bit [under André Villas-Boas], and made a difference.”
Is Frank being realistic though? I mean, whilst the absence of real leadership on the field has been all too apparent with both JT and Lampard missing in recent weeks, you’d have to say ‘two or three years at least at the top level’, is a bit optimistic.
Yes, he’s Chelsea’s third highest scorer, with 189 goals in 611 appearances in all competitions, and yes, he was a part of our Champions League winning side only last season once Di Matteo brought him back from the wilderness AVB had nudged him into, but at 34 the injuries are creeping in – injuries that will take longer to recover from each time. He’s just had six weeks out with a calf injury and even David Luiz made it into the starting line-up midweek ahead of him.
That’s not to say Luiz is better than him there and it’s certainly not meant to disrespect him in any way. Frank Lampard has been a consistent and loyal servant for Chelsea since he signed for us in 2001 (if you excuse the way he handled his last deal), but realistically, he just won’t get 90 minutes every week – and quite honestly, couldn’t perform if he did. Obviously he has other ideas though because he maintains “People say when you are older you shouldn’t play so many games but you need some sort of regularity to playing. Any player will tell you that. That’s why Paul Scholes retired at one point; he felt he was sitting on the bench and, as he got older, he found it more difficult to sit there and be expected to come on and turn it straight on.”
I have a feeling it’s exactly this stance that will see him leave in the summer though.
Blue is the colour
