Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has put his contract negotiations on ice until the end of the season to avoid them affecting his performances on the pitch.

 

"My desire is to stay at the club but I have told the club I want to put the negotiations on hold," the England international said on Thursday.

 

"I don't want anything to distract from my performances on the field," he said three days before Chelsea's opening Premier League match at home to promoted Birmingham City.

 

Lampard has been locked in talks with Chelsea for months about extending his contract, which has two more years to run, but has been unable to agree on a new deal.

 

"I have got two years left. I want to stay for the rest of my career, it's as simple as that, and I hope it gets sorted. It may be (at) the end of the season," he said at the launch of his own mobile phone television channel, Frank TV.

 

"It's not a money issue...This will be the biggest contract of my career and probably my last, and I want to get it right."

 

(China Daily via Reuters August 10, 2007)