Lampard: Englishmen, Go Abroad!

After rejecting a move to Serie A giants Inter Milan himself during the summer, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has nonetheless stated his belief that more English players should move abroad to ensure international success for England.

The 30-year-old midfielder turned down the chance to team up with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, now manager at Inter, in favour of a new lucrative five year contract with the London based club.

Lampard believes that if more English players move abroad, the national team may benefit as more players would be used to different styles of football.

Speaking to The Mirror, Lampard said, “It's an option English players have to look at seriously. It might be one of the reasons the England team hasn't really moved on.

“It would be great if we could go and learn a bit from abroad.”

So far, the only current England players to have moved abroad recently are David Beckham, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate, who all played for Real Madrid a few seasons ago.

Owen and Woodgate have since returned to Premier League football, with Owen moving to Newcastle and Woodgate now at Tottenham.

Ambitions

Despite turning down the chance to move to Italy, Lampard has always harboured ambitions of playing abroad.

“When I was younger I watched players like David Platt go and do very well, and some others who didn't quite manage it,” he continued.

“But I always thought maybe I could take on a new life and culture. That's easy to say when you're younger but it doesn't always work like that.

“For me now, the right decision was to stay here.”

Nick Turner