With big money transfers and talk of "the modern game" very little is made of the fact that there are players out there who cannot be classed as mercenaries.

On June 14th 2001 for a not insignificant, at that time, £11m was spent on the signing of Frank Lampard.

August 19th 2011 will mark the 10th year that Lampard has played in Chelsea blue, so why aren't the press hailing this loyalty? Probably because of his wages, Chelsea fans though will believe he is worth every penny.

10 years on, still celebrating (albeit rehearsed) ©Chelsea FC

For a few seasons now I have been bold enough, and stand by it now, to state that our number 8 could well be Chelsea's best ever player.

It isn't just the fact that he has an incredible goal scoring record, helped in part by a penalty taking ability rivalled by few, but he has been a midfield lynchpin. A major part in the spine of the team, and one of the players who is synonymous with the Mourinho era.

His signing under Claudio Ranieri was a welcome one. This was a period when Chelsea tended to delve into the foreign market for investment, and if Ranieri should be remembered for anything it should be his attempts at signing English talent.

Alongside Manu Petit, signed in the same summer, he had a slow start to his career at the club. He managed to notch 5 goals in 37 league appearances.

In the next couple of seasons he became more of a fans' favourite, and in the first Abramovich era showed his true quality with Champions' League football - but it will always be his influential role in the league winning seasons that he will be remembered for.

The Games

It is difficult to single out any games where Lampard has been outstanding, this is because he is so consistent. You would struggle to find a game where you found Frank to be poor, his standard was always so high.

Last season was an exception, even Frank would admit that. He wasn't so much poor as a bit anonymous, something you wouldn't hear a Chelsea fan ever say previously. Whether this is down to age or a niggling injury will be for all to see this season, I'm of the opinion the injury had a lot to do with it.

As for the memorable games, how about the memorable stat of playing 164 consecutive games for Chelsea in the Premier League, earning him a Barclays Premier League merit award.

In these 164 games you would be hard pushed to say he didn't play well in 99% of them.

The Goals

This is where Frank comes into his own, some of his goals - and the amount he has scored - for a midfielder are sensational.

My personal favourite will always be his stunner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in April 2005. The control and the finish more suited to a Brazilian striker, not an Essex born midfielder.

Unforgettable goals seem to be his speciality, the first against Boltonin that same season to secure our first league title for fifty years still sends shivers down my spine. Its one of two goals that can almost render me watery eyed! The celebrations for it too, and the following season when he scored in the same goal are great to see.

Another emotional one is the 44th minute Champions' League final goal against Man United in Moscow. Although we didn't win I can console myself in seeing us score in the final, a feeling of ecstasy I still haven't experienced during any other football match. Under the kosh for the majority of that half, it was against the run of play but at the perfect time. Sadly we all know how the game ended.

It seems fitting to close talking about his goals, sadly I don't have the time for all 170 of them, with the one that is the biggest tear jerker of them all. 7 minutes into extra-time in the Champions' League semi-final just after the death of his mother. Lampard steps up to take a penalty after a foul on Ballack. People sometimes don't understand how others can invest so much emotion into football, but for those of us that do this was one of those where the celebrations were as much as - if not more - for Lampard than Chelsea.

The Honours

When Lampard first joined Chelsea we were more a home for the old-timers, people not past their prime but with them in their wake was an honours list longer than Chelsea's and the accolades to go with it.

Few, even Lampard, could have predicted the achievements he and the team made together. Three Premiership medals, three FA Cup and two League Cups alongside three runners up medals in the league, and obviously one in the Champions' League.

Forget the team achievements though, in 2005 he was bestowed with the honour of second place in both the FIFA World Player and Ballon D'or Awards. He was also the PFA Fan's player of that year, and in 2004 & 2005 voted the England international player of the year.

The Obsession

This piece is particularly glowing. Of course I am talking about somebody who has dedicated, and put in their all for, ten years for my beloved Chelsea. But I am also talking about somebody who in my primitive university years was the object of my football obsessions.

As an early 20 something I would always get my England shirt with Lampard's number, adorn my University digs with posters and press cuttings of Lampard celebrating his numerous goals, and even stranger.

In 2004 my parents bought some pygmy goats. Frankie, still living off his strict diet of grass and garden tools, is splendidly indifferent to his full name of Frank Lampard Junior Junior. So Frank, if you are reading (obviously I mean WHEN you are reading) this piece, rest assured that your name lives on in the Kyle household.

I feel I have justified why Frank belongs in the history books of Chelsea, we should be thankful that he is still at the club today. Only once has temptation almost snatched him away from us, and almost forgivably that was to join Mourinho in Inter. Thankfully he stayed, and thankfully we allowed him the opportunity of the double. It would seem fitting that players of his, and John Terry's, ilk are rewarded for their loyalty with the holy grail. The Cup with the Big Ears (copyright Ruud Gullit).

So, Franks for the memories Lamps.

Keep the Blue Flag Flying High

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