Thursday 16 May 2013

Lampard signs new Chelsea deal, extends stay at Stamford Bridge by 12 months


The England midfielder, Lampard, who turns 35 next month and was captain in Amsterdam, will be spending another year with the west London club.

"I think everybody knows how much I wanted to stay here. I'm just very pleased now to look to the future," Lampard said.

There had been doubts over whether Chelsea wanted to keep the player who on Saturday surpassed Bobby Tambling's 43-year-old club goalscoring record tally, netting twice at Aston Villa to take his total Chelsea tally to 203 goals.

"As you get older you start to think about the time to walk away or when you might be told to walk away actually.


"But I love it here. I've got a great association with the club and with the fans. I live locally. It is my life here and that's what I didn't want to change.

"I want that to continue for as long as possible. I signed for a year extension; I'd love to be part of the next few years of Chelsea developing. The fresh young players that we've seen come in this year are only going to get better and integrate better into the team.

"If I can help that happen on the pitch and off the pitch I'd be really happy."

With Lampard proving his worth in grand style, he is bound to be a major asset for the next Chelsea manager.

It remains to be determined whether that man is Mourinho, the club's former Premier League-winning boss who is currently at the helm of Real Madrid.

He also hinted he would be thrilled if former manager Jose Mourinho returns to the Blues to fill the vacancy interim boss Rafael Benitez will leave behind when he departs at the end of the season.

Mourinho left Chelsea in 2007 but has strong emotional ties to the club, and Lampard knows speculation over the identity of the next manager has been intensifying.

Lampard follows England left-back Ashley Cole in signing a contract extension.

Chelsea captain John Terry, another member of the spine of the team under Mourinho, will be the next to face contract discussions, with the defender this summer entering the final 12 months of his current deal.

The Europa League triumph in Holland saw Lampard - Chelsea's third-highest appearance maker with more than 600 to his name - claim the one club trophy missing from his collection.

Lampard had won the Champions League, the Premier League title on three occasions, the FA Cup four times and the League Cup twice prior to the Europa League triumph.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: "Frank has been an important player for Chelsea Football Club for a long time and has played a significant part in the club's success.

"We have been talking to him since the end of last year and our discussions have been entirely positive throughout.

"We are delighted we are now announcing an extension to his contract which will keep him at the club until 2014."

No comments:

Post a Comment