Lamps signs five-year mega deal
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CHELSEA have made Frank Lampard the Premier League’s highest-paid player with an incredible £39.2million contract. The Blues did a U-turn by giving him a £151,000- a-week, five-year deal. And Chelsea will today find out whether their £24.5m bid for Robinho will be successful.
Blues chief executive Peter Kenyon had insisted he would not budge from a four-year offer for midfielder Lamps before giving in yesterday. Lampard, 30, said: “We can both gain from this deal. I am determined to win the title again and hopefully the Champions League.
“Having tasted the bitter disappointment of losing, I believe we can win it in the future. “We have a fantastic squad of players and a great manager. This is a very exciting time at Chelsea and I’m happy to be part of it.”
Kenyon admitted “He could be our best signing of the summer. It makes a statement about us keeping our best players. “He’s fit, he’s committed and in the modern game you will see top players carrying on longer in their careers.”
Meanwhile, Robinho, 24, will demand a move to Stamford Bridge if he fails to agree a new deal with Real Madrid. Kenyon, in talks with the striker’s representative, last night said: “That situation is ongoing and may happen.”
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the epl is now riding on a bubble. when they lose their flavor, especially in asia pac, the house will be crumbling like a stack of cards.
lampard's salary will only push up the wages of others. suddenly, average players in epl who can only buy a bmw m5 will suddenly be able to afford that aston martin db9.
not bad at all.
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1/6 of footballers, are losing their jobs every season
Cristiano Ronaldo was linked with a record transfer move to Real MadridFortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your affiliations, there is only one Cristiano Ronaldo. For most players, negotiations over multi-million pound transfers have never been mooted, let alone turned into a summer-long pantomime.
In a see-saw transfer tale which has dominated the back pages, the Manchester United winger had looked set for a world record move to Real Madrid until, this week, the 23-year-old declared he would be staying at Old Trafford for "at least one more season".
The likes of Ronaldo, Gareth Barry and Emmanuel Adebayor may have spent the close season outrageously flirting with various clubs in a manner which would have put Jessica Rabbit to shame. For those blessed with a little less magic in their boots, or whose prowess on the pitch has been withered away by Old Father Time, the summer has consisted of seemingly endless trials and hopeful phone calls to chairmen, managers and old team-mates in a bid to find a new club.
High-profile casualties include Freddie Ljungberg, Ivan Campo and Patrik Berger, but mixed with those illustrious names are veteran journeymen, aspiring teenagers and twenty-somethings desperately trying to make a living.
Joachim won nine caps for England Under-21sJulian Joachim was released by Darlington at the end of last season and according to the 33-year-old former Aston Villa and Leicester City striker the search for a new club gets more difficult with age.
Joachim, who just over 10 years ago moved from Filbert Street to Villa Park in a £1.5m deal, told BBC Sport: "At the end of the season you want to relax and switch off, but you've got to be fresh, go on trials and try to prove you're good enough.
"It gets harder and harder as the years go by, especially around the smaller clubs." The League Two club had a year's option on his contract, but Joachim was told he had no future at the Arena and is now preparing to ply his trade on a part-time basis in the Blue Square North with King's Lynn.
"Basically, the budget at Darlington had been slashed by half and they took me into the office to tell me they couldn't keep me because they hadn't got the funds," explained Joachim. "They talked to me about their situation; I talked to them about my situation and it was best for both parties that I got out. I knew King's Lynn were interested and the club is in an ideal location as it's near home in Boston."
The average footballer, according to Mick McGuire, primary deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), leads a "precarious existence". Around 500 players were released from their clubs at the end of last season, and McGuire told BBC Sport: "About 15 to 20%, that's 1/6 of footballers, are losing their jobs at the end of every season.
"If you or I were in an industry with a turnover that high then we'd be seriously worried. Adding to the insecurities players face, they are also increasingly being given short-term contracts, and not two-year contracts like they used to."
To help players get back on football's conveyor belt, the PFA keeps a register of available players called the Player Transfer Directory. It is a bit like a dating service for managers looking for that special someone. In fact, the directory outshines the average matchmaking website.
Not only does the directory provide the customary picture profile, age, height and nationality, but it provides information on the players' favourite positions and a brief history on their previous dalliances: seven clubs in five seasons (possible commitment issues); season-long loan (strangely given permission to play away).
Mullen has managed Burnley and BlackpoolWalsall manager Jimmy Mullen believes the directory is invaluable for clubs working on a shoe-string budget in a sport where money no longer talks but deafens. "If you look at the standard of League One and League Two, it's becoming higher and higher," the former Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City player told BBC Sport. "You've got clubs like Shrewsbury spending £170,000 on players so it's becoming tougher to get the right calibre of player."
While Mullen sympathises with those players who face an uncertain future, the beautiful game has, according to the League One boss, become an unsentimental rat race, with clubs scurrying around to cobble together a promotion-winning squad. Mullen said: "Telling a player he is no longer wanted is something that you get used to. I think the player usually has an idea so it's not that difficult. When it catches a player by surprise then it's a case of explaining why, but life goes on.
"It is not a nice thing to tell people but it is a necessity. You've got to do it because football is a rat race. It is a results-orientated business. "If a manager doesn't get results then he gets the sack, so if a player does not do his job then he has to go and someone else has got to come in. It is a vicious circle, but, unfortunately, that's the way football is."
Some decide to step out of the circle, but others persevere. Former Wales and Cardiff City defender Jason Perry believes players need to be "mentally tough" if they are to stay in the game. Perry, who for the last four years has been running a football academy in South Wales, focusing on educating youngsters as well as honing their football skills, said: "Nearly 99% of boys want to become footballers so when they walk through our doors you've got to tell them the truth: not everybody makes it.
"You've got the be in the right place at the right time. The boys come in and they're very negative in the way they play because they worry too much about making mistakes. It's a case of changing their thought process. "Football is about opinions, someone else's opinion might be different so you've got to be mentally tough and stay positive."
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...Frank Lampard pledged to give Chelsea “the best five years of my career” last night after signing a £33million five-year contract that makes him the highest-paid 30-year-old in domestic history.
The Chelsea midfield player should achieve his wish of finishing his career at Stamford Bridge thanks to an innovative deal in which his wages will continue to rise from their present level of £121,000 a week to a peak of £140,000 in the third year of his contract, before being reduced in the final two years.
Lampard's contract negotiations have been ongoing for more than 2 years, although the delay has not proved too costly because, having turned 30 in June, it is the most lucrative deal signed by a Premier League player of his age. Talks reached an impasse this summer over the length of the contract, as revealed by The Times, but a solution was reached this week after compromise on both sides, with Lampard being given an extra year on reduced terms.
John Terry's £135,000 a week remains the highest at the club, but Lampard's contract has an equivalent value over its full term.
“I wanted to sign a five-year deal because, having just turned 30, I feel I've got more than five years left in me,” he said. “I pride myself on my fitness and my training and I feel these will be the best five years of my career to come.
“I set out to improve every year as a player. I feel as fit as I've ever felt and I train as hard as I've ever trained. This contract will take me to 34 and if you look around there are a lot of top professionals playing, like Ryan Giggs, offering a lot to their club both on the pitch and off it. And I certainly feel that I can do that in a big way.”
Lampard has spoken of a desire to play abroad - he was tempted with the idea of a reunion with José Mourinho at Inter Milan - but credited his team-mates for convincing him to stay, particularly the support shown to him after the death of his mother in April. Chelsea's determination to keep him also played its part, with the club rejecting two bids, one of about £9.5million, from Inter last month.
“I think it helped coming back, training at Chelsea, seeing my team-mates, seeing the manager, feeling comfortable among the lads,” Lampard said. “The Man United game and what they did there was a big thing. I sat and watched that game with my family and when they removed their shirts [dedicating the victory to his mother] it was a very emotional moment. I will never forget it. I can't speak highly enough of the lads and what they did. John [Terry] as a captain creates that kind of spirit and the others follow because they are all great lads.
“When you go to your mum's funeral, you don't expect all the players to go there; you might expect a representative from the club. I had all the lads there. And that's something that goes beyond football and shows you what real friendships are.”
Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, hailed Lampard's deal, but warned Didier Drogba and Joe Cole that they would have to wait until next year for new contracts. “It could well be our best signing this summer,” Kenyon said. “I think it's important because it makes a statement about us keeping our best players.
“Didier and Joe Cole have two years to go. Both those contracts and discussions have been put on the shelf and will be revisited next year.”
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Crazy...
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with Lampard committed to being at Chelsea, they'll be the team to beat come next season, unless ManU get themselves a striker or 2, the EPL title seems to be heading back to Chelsea..
Liverpool & Arsenal fans might not agreed to this but seriously, at Liverpool, you don't need 1 more player, you need almost 50% more better players, your defences and midfield might be pretty decent but thats the key word, they're just pretty decent, or rather slightly above avg. at best, no doubt will still give Chelsea and ManU a run for their money but will fade away come end of the season, Arsenal might also be in the running up to probably 3/4 of the season but unless more players comes thru the ranks in mid season or more players get transferred in (which AW is not known to do so) else by the time they reached X'mas, chances is that they'll be not having enough 1st teamers to make a serious impact at all..
of course there will be team like Spurs, Newcastle, Man City, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Everton and so on.. but other then Spurs and probably Everton, the rest looked too avg to be in the running for the title, but with Spurs having losing their 1st team strike force, i would think 5th place would be the best they can get or maybe even just 6th at max..
Just IMHO..
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insanity wages to the epic-est level..
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yeah insane wages
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no matter what i still love mr frank lampard
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I agree with Saltiga, Liverpool and Arsenal definetely need to buy more proven players. But on the other hand, if Chelsea's season gets off to a shakey start, theres no telling what might happen in the dressing room. And we have'nt really seen the kind of football Phil Scholari can deliver. If it turns out to be just as bad as morinho's, we might just see another sack. And who knows, internal politics might just tear Chelsea apart. Abramovich, learn a lesson from the glazers, leave the football to the manager.
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Originally posted by Chris88110:
I agree with Saltiga, Liverpool and Arsenal definetely need to buy more proven players. But on the other hand, if Chelsea's season gets off to a shakey start, theres no telling what might happen in the dressing room. And we have'nt really seen the kind of football Phil Scholari can deliver. If it turns out to be just as bad as morinho's, we might just see another sack. And who knows, internal politics might just tear Chelsea apart. Abramovich, learn a lesson from the glazers, leave the football to the manager.
x2
SAME TO LIVERPOOL -
5 yrs?
did they do that to avoid letting him off on bosman?
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so tis is the big news?
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Originally posted by gunner77:
so tis is the big news?
no, the big news is that they've found some kinda patching compound that can bridge the gap between Kenyon's tooth...