Lampard keen to extend stay at Chelsea

(Reuters) - Frank Lampard has said he wants to extend his contract as Chelsea manager to become part of a long-term project at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard, 42, has 18 months left on his contract at Chelsea, having succeeded Maurizio Sarri in July 2019.

After guiding Chelsea to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League last season, Lampard is now working to make the club title contenders, having overseen a squad rebuild that cost around 220 million pounds in the summer transfer window.

"In terms of my contract, it seems to have flown by, the time I've been here," Lampard told a news conference.

"I knew there were a lot of circumstances at the beginning that were going to make last year transitional and maybe slightly difficult.

"Now I feel like I would love to be part of the long-term plan here. The signings we made in the summer, other than probably Thiago Silva, particularly, were signings for now and the future."

The new signings have already made an impact, with Chelsea aiming to go top of the Premier League with a win over Leeds United later on Saturday, while they are also on a 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Yet Lampard feels his players need more time to challenge on both domestic and European fronts.

"At the minute, I think we're working towards something and people are getting very excited and mentioning us being in a title race this year," he said.

"I always saw it as a longer plan than that and it might take until next year for us to really challenge, because of the signings, because of the bedding-in process."

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)