Frank Lampard is Now the Premier League’s Top Earner

By: Daryl | August 14th, 2008

And so Frank Lampard has got himself the contract he wanted. To be fair to Frank, he only ever asked for one thing: loads of money every week for the next five years. My guess is that all the talk about moving to Inter Milan was half a veiled threat and half a Plan B should Chelsea not cough up the cash.

The figure hasn’t been officially released but it’s believed to be “close to £140,000 a week” which would make Lamps the top earner in the Premier League, with John Terry a close second. Could be worse, eh Frank? The sticking point wasn’t really the weekly amount (with so many goals from midfield, it’s easy to argue he’s worth it) but the length of the contract.

The 30-year-old Lampard may be worth “close to £140,000 a week”, but will the 34-year-old Lampard?

A lot of the man’s game is based on his energy and consistency. He’s up and down the pitch and all over the place, in a good way. He’s also ridiculously fit and hardly ever seems to miss a game. But now that he’s 30, it’s unlikely he’s going to get any better or any fitter.

Lampard could make a good argument that his fitness record suggests he’ll age well, like fine wine, but it’s equally possible that Chelsea will eventually be paying an astronomical sum to a man in his mid-thirties who’s too tired to boss the midfield like he used to. And you never know when the downward slide will begin, or how steep it will be.

The reluctance to sign such a long and expensive deal with Lampard seems to be the high rolling Chelsea equivalent of Arsenal’s one year contracts for players over 30 rule. Arsenal’s policy makes sense financially, but it sees far too many players leave before their time (like Robert Pires for example).

But, it seems a smart compromise has been reached at Chelsea whereby Lampard’s wages will drop in the final twelve months of his contract, to reflect his likely reduced contribution. That could go either way. If he’s useless at that point then Chelsea will still be shelling out a lot of money for little return.

But if Lampard is still on top of his game, then he’ll have a contract based on a reduced version of five year old prices.

Either side could lose out. But, this is still a happy compromise. Lampard has a guaranteed fat contract for the next five years of his life, and now Chelsea don’t have to put up with Jose Mourinho bothering them every summer to see if he can buy his buddy.