[...] at the time of writing this blog, Lampard is still a Chelsea player. I saw some very untimely support from Scolari that he would facilitate a peaceful move for Lampard [...]

In Addition Maluda , Kalou, SWP all can play in midfield.

Use Lampard to prize out Balotelli . He is fast , strong and well suited for EPL . More-over he is 10 years younger to Lampard.

Adriano would not be a bad swap for lampard.

chelsea 2008-2009 squad

CECH–CUDICINI—HILARIO—TERRY—ALCIDES–ALEX-CARVALHO–A.COLE–BOSINGWA-FERRIRA–BRIDGE—IVANOVIC–DECO—MIKEL—ESSIEN–BALLACK– -SINCLAIR-J.COLE-SEBASTIAN-MALOUDA-ANELKA-HUNTLAAR—ADIANO-KALOU

4-2-3-1
———–CECH————

—BOSINGWA–TERRY–CARVALHO––A.COLE––

————DECO—ESSIEN–————

—J.COLE—BALLACK—SEBASTIAN—-

——-ANELKA———-

Subs: CUDICINI,ALEX,MIKEL,MALOUDA,HUNTLAAR,KALOU,ADIANO

Wonderful article mate………..hats off[for reply to nihongo]………..this is the blog i love where chelsea comes in front of players and managers.
my guess is that it’s not only due to money but i guess it’s his last chance for a big move to foreign league[which very few english players do]and be successful in there………………media has been nearly 100% consistent in their views that lamps is holding for 5 year deal as highest paid player.
he is a legend irrespective of whether i rate him or not………..he should come out and say he wants to move on to foreign league.

it’s good to see that finally our academy players[which are damn talented] to break through.
deco is an excellent playmaker[as evident from euros] and i guess 2 years is good as we don’t want to take a risk…………he can always get an extension if he performs.
this season has been pathetic for me…………my board marks,roger federer,chelsea,barca,milan everyone won sweet f*ck all…………….i m starting a new phase of my life……….i will be off to do b.tech in august………hopefully this season will be rocking.
and ya,i absolutely love our new home kit……..

5 mil + ibrahimovic
15 mil+ adriano
2o mil +balotelli

I got the financial figures from a BBC article. Irrespective of the accuracy of the amounts involved, we can still discuss the topic in the same spirit. Because for most of the stuff that we talk about we may not have solid proof. We say Sheva and Ballack came in with 130k salary. The proof would only be the sports websites and not the official Chelsea website, which never gives out these information. Now on to the topic.

At hindsight a 130k salary for Sheva looks attrocious. A week before his signing, it looked proper (by Chelsea terms I mean). The Sheva that I knew in 2006 at age 30 is way above in value than the Lampard I know in 2008 at age 30. In other words, Sheva deserved to get that contract but didn’t do justice later on. Ballack came in as a free player. He must have cost a lot if he had, say, two years left in his contract. Also Madrid were trying to get him. We had to offer something better.

On the whole, the whole transfer fees and salary fees in Chelsea did not have too much of a structure. We got the players on board as soon as possible so we can start winning. If the Board goes comparing the salary of each of the players and see that we need to correct the salary strucutre, it would be a massive and futile exercise. If Roman thinks of starting to spend his money wisely and if it had to start with Lampard, it’s just Lampard’s bad luck.

I don’t agree on his ‘treatment’ thing. He is a legend and is being treated so by the fans, managers, board and even Roman. You see the Chelsea officials come out and saying how great Lampard is and how important he is. This would not happen for Sheva or Ballack. So I think Lampard is treated quite honourably. If Lampard is offered 120k while Ballack gets 150k, I don’t see this as an insult in any way. I guess, now it’s in Lampard’s court.