Di Matteo Hopes To Have Lampard For Years To Come

Frank Lampard: Entering the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge

Roberto Di Matteo is hopeful that veteran midfielder Frank Lampard will extend his Chelsea career past the end of his current contract in 2013.

Lampard is entering the final year of his contract and revealed this week the club had yet to follow up last term's initial talks about a new deal.

The 34-year-old stated he would "love" to stay on but there now appears to be a real prospect he could leave next summer.

Lampard now is the oldest player of the squad after Didier Drogba left the club But no doubt that the living legend of Chelsea we all love to see him retire at Chelsea.

The England star, who captained his country against Italy on Wednesday, looks likely to be the subject of similar gossip to Didier Drogba, who eventually decided not to renew his Chelsea contract at the end of last season.

I am sure most Chelsea fans will be delighted if Lampard finishes his career at the club, He still has a big contribution to make and is the perfect role model for young players, We have a descent players like  Josh Mceachran, Oscar and Lucas Piazon who can learn a lot from such a legend like Frankie .

"I am, yes," Di Matteo told the press when asked if he was hopeful that any talks to renew Lampard's contract would be successful, though he added that “these are talks between the club and the player".

"I've been very happy with Frank and he shows the qualities that he has in every game that he plays, so [he's] a very influential player within the group as well."

RDM also stated : "He's in good shape, he's not suffered any major injuries and he looks after himself. We've seen that many players who live a professional life can go on and play up to their late 30s." 

However, that will almost certainly involve the man who is closing in on becoming Chelsea's record goal scorer being used in a more withdrawn midfield role.

"I don't think we're going to change exactly everything there is about Frank and take his qualities away," stated the Blues boss. "We want to enhance his qualities within the team.

"We have a lot of competition in midfield - that is very good - but we have a lot of games as well and competitions that we're going to be playing in, So there will be time for everybody and that's the situation for all the players ." Di Matteo continued .

He added: "He's an important player, Ramires is an important player, [Juan] Mata's an important, [John Obi] Mikel's an important player, [Michael] Essien, We can't think that we can only count on 11 players or 10 players."

So we now in need for a fresh midfielders who can help the reborn Fernando Torres to score again and shine but  it could mean a more withdrawn position for Lampard. 

Chelsea's board needs to extend his contract, because his presence maybe not be too needed on the pitch next season, But it would be invaluable in the dressing room which would be a great morale booster for youth players .Lampard is, no doubt, the living legend of Chelsea. I'd love to see him retire at Chelsea. But his playing time is probably an issue to argue

#Bonmido (@BonMido92)

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