Yesterday Lampard sounded like someone who expected to stay at the club. It certainly seemed revealing that, even with his current contract so close to expiring, Lampard cited the summer of 2008 as the only time he nearly left Chelsea. “The closest was Inter Milan with Jose in 2008, the idea of challenging myself to do something different and going with him because he was such an influence on my career,” he said. “In the end I wanted to stay for personal reasons, because of my mum and the attachment I have to Chelsea.