See, here's the thing...

Football is a very fickle game and although generally speaking the 'f' word – fickle that is – associated with the general football fan, in this instance I am referring to the players themselves.

You hear supporters complaining all the time about players staying loyal to their club but when a player acts in such a way his loyalty is thrown squarely back in his face. Of course it doesn't always happen and many players are quick to jump ship. Two major transfer stories this Summer have seen both ends of this scale. With Cristiano Ronaldo practically confirming that he is indeed a player without any sense of loyalty, sensitivity and indeed knowledge of history by agreeing with Sepp Blatter's comments there is one high profile player who is ready to prove his commitment to a club who apparently don't care...

Frank Lampard. Nobody could possibly bet on him staying at Chelsea or heading to Inter this Summer. He has been at the centre of what could be described as a footballing witch-hunt recently, after being made a scapegoat for England's failure to reach the European Championships this Summer – which, ironically many believed was better viewing due to the lack of England's presence.

Week in, week out Lampard was met with calls of 'Fat Frank' yet kept his head up and put in great performances for his club. Even when sickening chants were sung about the death of his mother it did not affect the Chelsea man and throughout all this the Stamford Bridge faithful stayed behind him with chants of 'Super Frank' ringing out wherever the Blues played.

Super Frank is coming to the end of his contract in West London though leading to rumours that Lampard would be moving to Barcelona this Summer. Those whispers have died down now but fresh bids from Inter Milan have led to many Blues supporters fearing that one of their longest serving players may be heading for the exit.

The midfielder himself would love to stay, I have no doubt about this but the way that he has been treated by the clubs board may seem as though they do not appreciate the players' contribution to the club since his 2001 transfer from West Ham.

Since then he has scored over 110 goals for Chelsea – easily surpassing Dennis Wise's record and has become a firm favourite with the clubs support, so after all that you'd think if Lampard asked for an extra year on a contract it would not be a big deal, well, apparently you'd be wrong.

Chelsea's hierarchy are offering Lampard a four-year-deal with wages around £140,000 a week, Lampard on the other hand is requesting a five-year deal which Peter Kenyon and the rest of the board are unwilling to give him. They say that the club have a policy at the club which states that they do not give out any contract longer than four-years to a player who is older than 30-years. That's strange considering the fact that Andrei Shevchenko and Michael Ballack have both been given five year deals and both a well into their thirties.

So we go back to the whole idea of loyalty. Fans and owners alike continually bang on about demanding loyalty from their players, they want players to give their all for the club and to see out their contract before requesting a move. Lampard has done more than this by asking for a long-term contract but has been knocked back by the same club he has given his all to. I for one think that Lampard would be well in his rights to tell Chelsea where to stuff it...

Written by John Ford - A Freelance Football Journalist