Frank Lampard is a great player. At Chelsea, he is the leading goal scorer, and whether or not those goals come from deflections or not, there is no arguing that he is one of the best midfielders playing in the EPL today.
Chelsea has benefited greatly from Lampard, and it was rumored that after Mourinho bought and paid Michael Ballack for a sum greater than the #8, that Frank was clearly less than thrilled. Naturally when contract re-negotiations began this year (despite that Lampard has 2 years left on his existing contract), Lampard made it no secret that he wanted to be paid more than Ballack, who was far from impressive this season for Chelsea.
But wait. In the wake of Henry's departure from Emirates stadium to the Nou Camp, suddenly more and more fans were realizing that players, as much as they may be fixtures at a club (Henry is an 8 year Gunner legend, while Lampard is close, having signed to Chelsea in 2001), they are also employees of that clubs management, ownership, and all the other ins and outs of the business side of managing and owning a football club brings with it. Henry made it obvious that the departure of David Dein (who some say may return in a year or so) was disruptive to both the club and his place in it, and Barcelona opened up an opportunity for him to work with management he thinks he'll like better, and to play in La Liga for his last "great" years.
Is this what is going on with Frank Lampard? It would only be blind speculation to say that he does or does not get along with Abramovich and Mourinho and the rest of the management end, but he has been repeatedly linked with moving to Barcelona, denying those rumors as steadily as they keep resurfacing. Today, he made his boldest statement yet: Lampard rejected Chelsea's latest and most generous offer of that eclipses more than Ballack and Shevchenko's £121 million a week salary.
His explanation? There wasn't any. The BBC reports that Lampard acknowledges this is a less than perfect situation, and that in a perfect world, a new deal would have been signed weeks ago but alas, it is far from perfect so we must all deal. It makes no mention that the money is not enough (although its sheer speculation, one must presume that it is not for Lampard), and that he is, perhaps a la Henry, wanting to make his final professional transfer - the one that will "mean" something. As much as the press have harped on about David Beckham's MLS move, Beckham, at the time of the MLS deal, reportedly had no offers from any clubs comparable to Real Madrid or Man United...and so he made do with the MLS. Lampard clearly doesn't have the metrosexual star power that Beckham does, and like Henry, he may be feeling the pressure of knowing that, at 29 years old, these might just be his last "great" years to make high priced demands and get what he wants.
If he waits out the rest of his two years at Chelsea (which looks likely as Lampard has claimed he is not interested in buying out his contract), he will be over 30 and depending on how these next two seasons go for him, he will have to try his luck with the Beckham Theorem (flailing for an extended, if not career threatening, amount of time, and then coming back times ten to make you more sought after than previously imagined), or he will have to just do with the other legendary players, a la Luis Figo most recently, have done: sign for a sub par club in, say, Saudi Arabia, and wait out the time in the Middle East after making a few more million and until they feel ready for retirement...and then break that contract, sign for just one more year with the last big club played for, and then negotiate a spot in the head office...etc. Lampard, with his career goals and stats and reputation, is definitely not without bargaining power in the negotiation room. He may just need to decide what he is bargaining for, and with who.
The press is relentless, as are the English/Chelsea fans, so its understandable why Lampard is taking his time in making a proper announcement but eventually, he will have to take the money and run or make a bolder move - like taking a cue from maybe future teammate Henry, and leave Chelsea a legend and move onto the final great stage of his career elsewhere.
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