Since joining the west London club in 2001, the England international has gone on to break record after record at Stamford Bridge. His performances at club level have filled Roman Abramovich's vast trophy cabinet, which now includes three Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, and the holy grail, this year's against-all-odds triumph in the Champions League.
But, as an individual, Lampard has distinguished himself as a truly world-class performer. In tribute to one of Chelsea's best ever, let us look back at Lampard's career so far, and pick out some of the highlights.
Premier League Player of the Decade
According to the statisticians at Opta, Lampard was the best player in the Premier League from 2000 to 2009. The award is some achievement considering the competition he faced, as Lampard was often sharing the pitch with Theirry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs The Chelsea star boasted the most games, the most wins, the second-most assists and the fourth-highest number of goals across the ten-year period.
The Chelsea legend has been a league-leader in assists in three seasons, while he regularly tops the charts of top Premier League midfielder goalscorers. In fact, Lampard is the only player to score at least 10 goals in nine consecutive seasons in Premier League history.
That £11million Claudio Ranieri paid in 2001 now looks like one of the best bargains in football history.
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Lampard holds the record as the midfielder with the most goals in Premier League history. Chelsea's third highest goalscorer sits just behind Kerry Dixon and Bobby Tambling on the all-time list and just ahead of Blues legend Didier Drogba, but no midfielder comes close to Lampard.
Not bad for a player who only scored 15 goals in his first two years at Stamford Bridge. With a couple more seasons under his belt, Lampard could be well-placed to challenge Tambling's magic tally of 202 goals.
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Between 13 October 2001 and 26 December 2005, Lampard did not miss a single Premier League match. 164 consecutive appearances broke the English record previously held by Brad Friedel, a remarkable achievement for a box-to-box midfielder.
These kind of records usually belong exclusively to goalkeepers - rarely do midfielders avoid injury or suspension for long enough to put together such a run - but Lampard is a unique player.
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During the 2006/07 campaign, Lampard broke the record for the highest number of appearances during a single season. The ever-present England international was coming off the back of a difficult World Cup, but the Chelsea star was quickly back to his best for his club side.
Under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho, Lampard cemented his reputation as one of the world's premier midfielders, making the World XI in 2005, receiving the Premier League Player of the Season award in 2006 and the UEFA Midfielder of the Year trophy in 2008.
Every year under Mourinho, from 2004-2006, Lampard was voted into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
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The former-West Ham player also holds the record for most penalties scored for Chelsea. 42 times Lampard has stepped to the mark and scored, demonstrating his coolness under pressure and his fantastic ball-striking technique.
Perhaps his most important so far was taken this year. Lampard's penalty against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final was an absolute belter, smashed high into the roof of the net past a despairing Manuel Neuer. No matter what the occasion, the Blues can always count on their talismanic midfielder.
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Lampard's form for Chelsea inevitably led to him becoming one of England's most important players, and the Blues star holds the record for most number of international caps by a Chelsea player. And when playing for his country, Lampard's form has often been as good as his performances in the blue shirt for Chelsea.
In 2004 and 2005, after breaking onto the international scene with standout performances at Euro 2004, Lampard was voted England's Player of the Year.
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Against Derby County in 2008, and then again against Aston Villa in 2010, Lampard matched Gianluca Vialli's and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's record for most Premier League goals in one match.
Chelsea's all-time third top goalscorer has been at the top of his game for more than a decade, and Stamford Bridge has been treated to some memorable performances, both in the Premier League and in Europe.
Although Lampard has missed out on what would probably have been his final major international tournament at Euro 2012, the 34-year-old is sure to be gracing the Stamford Bridge turf for years to come. And when Lampard plays, he's usually breaking records.
>>>>GMF
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