Chelsea Football Club News

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Roberto Di Matteo

• Ground:Stamford Bridge
• Capacity:42,440

Kenyon tips Lampard to stay

09 Jul 2008 - 13:35:08

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Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has predicted that Frank Lampard will still be at Stamford Bridge next summer even if the midfielder decides not to sign a new contract with the club.

The 30-year-old England international has been linked with a move to Internazionale where he would be reunited with former Blues boss Jose Mourinho.

However, Kenyon is adamant the former West Ham United star is going nowhere, telling Chelsea's official website: "The situation is ongoing.

"We've always maintained that we want Frank to stay and an offer was made to that effect. That offer's still on the table.

"Frank's under contract and he still has one year to run on that. We'd like to hope we can reach an agreement but, if we can't, we've always worked on the basis that Frank sees out the terms of his contract.

"Chelsea has made its position very clear to Internazionale and they've come back now with a financial offer. That will be rejected.

"Contrary to what you may have read in one or two newspapers it's totally untrue that Felipe was pushing the club or putting pressure on us to change the offer to Frank.

"At no stage was he ever in conflict with the club's position or asked the board or the owner to change the offer.

"We've been linked with all sorts of names, that's inevitable during the transfer window, and most of them you can dismiss as speculation.

"But clearly we have one or two targets and we want to support the manager with the players he wants.

"Everybody thinks players like Kaka and Ronaldinho for example are fantastic players but Felipe made it clear that players like that being linked with us is just speculation.

"Felipe wants a maximum of 25 players in his squad this season. Last year, because we signed players in January, that got out of kilter a bit and we've brought two more in so things will be brought into line.

"Young players are going to figure and with seven substitutes allowed on the bench that means I think you'll see a lot of younger players getting chances and experience.

"Felipe has made it very clear that he's prepared to give youth a chance and that has got to be positive and a great incentive for the Academy."