Football
ESPN staff 9y

Frank Lampard's return to Chelsea mustn't be happy, says Eden Hazard

Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard has warned that he and his teammates are out to spoil Frank Lampard's Stamford Bridge return on Saturday, saying: "We have to win, unfortunately for him."

Lampard will be back at Chelsea for the first time since leaving for New York City FC -- but then joining Manchester City on loan for the season -- in the summer.

The midfielder became Chelsea's all-time record scorer and won three league titles, four FA Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League in a 13-year spell after moving from West Ham in 2001.

Lampard, 36, scored a late equaliser as City and Chelsea drew 1-1 at the Etihad earlier this season -- but Hazard knows that, with Chelsea able to go eight points clear of the champions if they win, there is no room for sentiment.

"For him it is going to be one of the best moments of his career," he said. "But we have to win, unfortunately for him. It will be a good game.

"If we win on Saturday, it will be very good. We have led by eight points before. The season is still long, but we will be in with a good opportunity to win the title."

Meanwhile, The Times reported that Chelsea would not be making any presentation to Lampard to mark his hugely successful time as a Chelsea player.

The west London club had previously made such presentations to both Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack when they returned with other clubs.

The paper said they had no plans to replicate that with Lampard despite his 211 goals for the club, but quoted a Chelsea fanzine calling on supporters to give him a positive reception.

#INSERT type:image caption:Lampard scored for Manchester City against Chelsea earlier this season. END#

An editorial in cfcuk said: "Many readers and other observers have asked whether we will begin to turn our backs on him now he is doing well at Chelsea's main Premier League rivals.

"Like all Chelsea supporters, we would have preferred him to have worked out a deal that would have seen him stay at Stamford Bridge but, failing that, we wish he had gone straight to New York City rather than to another English team, especially the Etihad side.

"That said, the majority of the regular contributors to this fanzine are of the opinion that Lampard is still the greatest player they have seen in a Chelsea shirt and nothing -- even match-winning performances for one of Chelsea's rivals -- will bring about a change of mind."

The editorial expressed the hope that Lampard would "receive a good, appreciative reception from the home supporters before and after the match" but that the home fans would give their full backing to Chelsea for the 90 minutes.

^ Back to Top ^