News Press Releases | Lampard Becomes The Highest Paid Player In The Premier League.

Lampard Becomes the Highest Paid Player in the Premier League

01 September 2008

Seven years ago English midfielder Frank Lampard joined Chelsea from West Ham on an eight year £11 million contract. Amidst speculation that Lampard might leave Chelsea after Internazionale, now under the former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, put in a £10m bid for him last month, the midfielder has signed a five year contract with Chelsea for roughly £140,000 a week.

"It has taken a long time to get here but I'm happy that my future at Chelsea has now been sorted and that I will be staying here for the next five years," Lampard told the Guardian. "I pride myself on my fitness and on how much effort I put in during training and, for those reasons, feel this could be the best five years of my career.

I want to win more trophies and certainly feel I can do that here. This is a great club with a great squad and where the morale is as high as I've ever experienced. After winning nothing last season all the players really have the bit between their teeth this year. I think we can not only win things domestically but also in Europe."

Lampard has described Chelsea’s new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari as “passionate” and a “hugely impressive man”. When Lampard’s mother passed away from pneumonia in April Lampard’s team-mates wore shirts with his mother’s name on them days after her death in the game against Manchester United in which they secured a 2-1 victory.

Lampard was deeply moved by the actions of his team-mates: “What the lads did at the United match was very emotional. I sat and watched that with my family and it is something none of us will never forget," he said.

"I can't speak highly enough of them, nor the fans who sent me loads of letters after what happened in my private life. They have been fantastic throughout my time here and hopefully I can repay them on the pitch,"Lampard explained.

Chelsea has put in a £19.5 million bid for Real Madrid forward Robinho which was rejected, but there is speculation that the bid will be improved, and that Robinho will transfer to Chelsea before the deadlind on August 31st.

Claudio Pizarro and Juliano Belletti have been told by Scolari that they do not feature in his game plan.

The Top Ten Earners in the Premier League are:

Frank Lampard, Chelsea approx £140,000 a week
John Terry, Chelsea £131,000
Andriy Shevchenko, Chelsea £121,000
Michael Ballack, Chelsea £121,000
Steven Gerrard, Liverpool £120,000
Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd £119,000
Wayne Rooney, Man Utd £110,000
Michael Owen, Newcastle £110,000
Rio Ferdinand, Man Utd £100,000
Didier Drogba, Chelsea £91,000


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