We must hold on to Lampard, says chief

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon today confirmed that the club have made keeping Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge their top priority.

Lampard has already revealed he will meet officials for more talks when he returns after England duty in a couple of weeks' time.

The 29-year-old has been strongly linked with a move to Inter Milan, who claim they have already agreed a £7million fee with Chelsea and a contract worth £150,000 a week with the midfielder.

But Kenyon said: "There's been lots of speculation but we're pretty confident that the players we want to keep, we'll keep. With Frank, he is one of the top players in the world and there's no question that a deal for Frank has always been on the cards and that's certainly one of the things we'd like to sort out, to get rid of the speculation as soon as possible.

"I think we'll talk after the internationals and that's fair because everyone needs a break, so both things are our priorities.

"The strategy is clear - home grown for obvious reasons, the core being English, which is a strength, and having players on long-term contracts so you're not going through constant change.