Chelsea: Can Lampard become the Blues’ all-time scoring great?

John Terry's alleged scoring exploits have been all over the front pages recently but it’s his Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard whose efforts in front of goal may see him gain legendary status at the Bridge. Lampard took his tally for the season to 13 thanks to a brace against Birmingham City last month and the England international has his sights firmly set on breaking some long-standing records at the club.

The former West Ham United midfielder has notched 143 goals in almost nine years at the Bridge, which is a phenomenal record for a midfielder, and just eight more goals will see him surpass legendary Chelsea aces Peter Osgood and Roy Bentley in the scoring charts and become the Blues’ third greatest goalscorer in the club’s history. Lampard is already the club’s most prolific midfielder but could the 31-year-old eventually go on to beat Bobby Tambling’s all-time scoring record of 202 goals to become the best scorer the club has ever had?

Lampard’s game has improved dramatically during his nine years at Chelsea. He was always going to have the skills to succeed in the game having been educated at the academy of football but nobody expected him to develop into such a goalscoring machine and influential player.

He managed just 15 goals in his first two seasons at the Bridge and there were some people who questioned the amount of money paid for him (£11 million). However, it was in his third season in West London that his influence really came to the fore and that he really started to repay that huge transfer fee. He doubled his previous two seasons’ tally as Chelsea competed for the title and Champions League success, but faced a worrying time after the dismissal of the Tinkerman Clauido Ranieri. Fortunately for Lampard, his form would only continue to flourish under Champions League winning boss Jose Mourinho.

Since the former Porto chief took over at the Bridge, Lampard has, on average, scored an astonishing 20 goals a season for the past five campaigns. That is an extraordinary return for any player let alone a midfielder. Lampard can finish with both feet and his head, is always making late breaks into the box to finish moves off and his penalty conversion rate helps his tally too. He is a supreme all-round midfielder who will do whatever the manager asks of him but it’s undoubtedly his eye for goal that separates him from his contemporaries in the game.

A footballer’s career normally starts to wind down once he enters his thirties but Lampard is such a professional with a hunger to succeed that he could well follow in the footsteps of veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes in being able to compete at the highest level well past the traditional retirement age. Despite all the jokes aimed at his waistline, Lampard is one of the fittest players in the game and the strict diet and fitness regimes that the modern footballers have to follow nowadays will only benefit him in the long run. He is also believed to be one of the smartest players in the game and that will serve him well when his legs do start to slow down.

Lampard is an integral cog in this Chelsea team – a team which looks like having a major say in every trophy in the next couple of years – so if the midfield maestro can stay fit and injury free, and remain in the manager’s plans, he could potentially pass Tambling’s record in just three years.

Unless something horrific happens to Lampard in the remainder of this season he should overtake Osgood and Bentley in the scoring charts. Then Kerry Dixon will be looking over his shoulder as the midfield charges down his record of 193 before Tambling’s feat is truly under threat.

However, some critics will claim though that Lampard, who turns 32 in the summer, will be unable to beat Tambling's record as he will find it hard to reproduce his goalscoring exploits for much longer as his age catches up with him and even fitter youngsters enter the game. But, against the belief of many pundits, Lampard has established himself as a mainstay in the Chelsea team and I firmly believe that the only person who will stop Lampard from breaking Tambling’s record is Lampard himself. And while Terry’s alleged off-the-field antics will be long forgotten by then, Lampard’s efforts will be written in Chelsea history for ever.

· Calling all Chelsea fans. Do you think Lampard will be able to beat Bobby Tambling’s record at the Bridge? How vital has Lampard been to your progress over the past nine years? Did you ever think that Lampard would be such a scoring machine when he arrived from West Ham in 2001? What do you think may prevent Lamps from becoming Chelsea’s greatest scorer? I’d love to hear from you.