The Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez has suggested that it is time that the fans and the media started moving on from the past and into the future. He has suggested that the club will be focusing on new players rather than the old legends, which has suggested that the likes of Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole will definitely leave the club at the end of the season. The two players are out of contract at the end of this season and there has been no negotiations for both the players. Lampard is regarded as one of the club legends due to his 11 year spell at the club in which he has scored close to 200 goals.
The 34-year-old is cherished by the Chelsea fans, but Benitez reckons that it is time that the club moved on from the past. He has also paid tribute to the achievements of the players at the club during the last decade. Chelsea have come a long way since their first trophy – League cup – in 2005. Many of the players who were part of the team like Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry, and Petr Cech have been the backbone of the team in the successes that have followed.
“It’s easy to talk about the legends and we have to have a lot of respect for them. What they have achieved at this club is fantastic, but we have to have new players — English or foreign, it doesn’t matter — and carry on winning games. Everyone knows the legends have been here and what they have achieved, but we have to see new players coming in. It’s part of life. I can see the club are changing things and thinking about being successful again,” said Benitez ahead of the League cup semi-final match against Swansea.