Chelsea Transfers: 5 Replacements For Frank Lampard

Jose Mourinho wants him to stay, yet the man who calls all the shots, Roman Abramovich, as though he were the proverbial emperor, has given this particular gladiator the old 'thumbs down'. It's a shoddy way to end anyone's club career, let alone that of a player who has given the club his very heart and soul in each of his near 400 appearances. But football is not an industry that cares much for sentimentality. There are no heartstrings to tug on and as the reigning European champions prepare to perform the autopsy on what has been a substandard season that has seen all but one shot at silverware vanish into thin air, it is time to start building for the future - a future, it would seem, that is without Lampard. Here, we take a look at five midfield candidates who could take his place at Stamford Bridge. Click "Next" to continue.