LONDON (Sporting Alert) – Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has moved to quickly distance himself from rumors suggesting he could make a bid for Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.
Lampard has apparently been told that his current contract with Chelsea, which expires at the end of the Premier League season, will not be extended and he was free to start looking for another club.
And there have been several European clubs, including English Premier League leaders Manchester United, reportedly interested in signing the England midfielder in the summer.
However, Wenger says he already has a young and talented group of midfielders and wasn’t looking to add the 34-year-old Lampard to his squad.
“No [we won’t try to sign Lampard]. We have a young midfield,” Wenger said on Arsenal FC official website at www.arsenal.com.
“[Aaron] Ramsey did not start against Swansea. [Alex] Chamberlain did not start the game, when time goes on he will become a central midfielder as well.
“We have what we need in the middle of the park.”
Arsenal movement in the current January transfer window remains stagnant, despite the club being linked with several players heading into the period.
One of the players that supposedly got away from Wenger was striker Demba Ba, who moved to Chelsea from Newcastle United instead.
Wenger has since played down suggestions that he was truly interested in signing the forward, claiming that Arsenal already have Olivier Giroud and he’s a similar type of players.
“Demba Ba scored 13 goals before he went to Chelsea, so you are not surprised he scores goal, he can score goals everywhere,” the Gunner boss said.
“At Chelsea he has even more chances, so you would think he would be more prolific.
“He is a similar type physically to Giroud, that is why we had that problem for us [of not going for him], but he is a very efficient centre forward.
“I like him personally but we had Giroud who is 25 and has just came to us. We wanted to give Giroud a chance.”
