When will Frank Lampard finally hang up his boots? His friend and former English teammate Steven Gerrard, who is two years younger than him, has already drawn his emphatic career to an end but Lampard, who is now 38, is still reportedly willing to pursue his career.
Well, age is just a number as they say. Lampard’s last association was with New York City where he notched up an impressive 15 goals from just 31 games which is, of course, an excellent figure for a midfielder.
Reports claim that Lampard is willing to try his luck in English football one more time and both Crystal Palace and Brighton are looking to sign the experienced midfielder. Considering Brighton are in Championship, Crystal Palace certainly does have the advantage on Chris Hughton’s side.
Sam Allardyce, the newly appointed manager of Crystal Palace, is known for bringing in big names to less fashionable clubs. He brought in the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff and Fernando Hierro in his Bolton days. Crystal Palace does have plenty of cash available at their disposal which means that they have the funds to keep Lampard content. They have some big players like Benteke and Cabaye at the club for which Lampard does not seem to be an unrealistic target.
Throughout his career, Lampard has always been a regular goalscorer from midfield and his instinctive finishing is still there which is evident from his figures at New York City. Crystal Palace desperately needs to score more goals than they are managing to do right now and a player of Lampard’s calibre can ensure that. Behind Christian Benteke, who is one of the best ‘target man’ kind of strikers in the Premier League, Lampard should find joy in front of goal even at the dusk of his career.
Lampard has three Premier League titles, a Champions League winner’s medal and four FA Cups to his name and has represented England at the highest level 106 times. The experience he will bring in with himself cannot be described in words. Palace does need a player who can inspire them to better times and Lampard is well capable of offering that to the Eagles.
Brighton are flying high in the Championship and should make their way to the Premier League next season but Lampard is likely to make his decision on what he can be offered now rather than in the long run. The Eagles can offer him Premier League football which Brighton cannot. It would be an absolute no-brainer from Crystal Palace if they can sign the experienced English midfield icon.
