Frank Lampard is one of those players that polarizes football fans nationwide. Some hate him and the rest support Chelsea.
It’s hard to imagine, but when Claudio Ranieri paid West Ham £11m for a 23-year-old midfielder from Romford in 2001, many thought the Italian had paid over the odds.
But after taking his time to settle, Lampard emphatically shoved the critics’ words down their throats. With a remarkable goal ratio of just under one in every three games and a Premier League record for the most consecutive appearances (159), Lamps has been acclaimed by Johan Cryuff, amongst others, as one of the best players in Europe, a view reinforced by his second-place finish to Ronaldinho in both the 2005 World and European Player of the Year awards.
One of several England stars who has failed to replicate club form in an international shirt, there’s no doubting his value to Chelsea where his goals, passing and box-to-box play drive the team on.