Frank Lampard remains on the books at Chelsea, it has been claimed.

The Sun says when Lampard was sacked by Chelsea last month the club did not pay-up the remainder of his contract after a change of policy in the wake of coughing up huge sums to get rid of Jose Mourinho.

Instead they have kept his £75,000-a-week wages on the wage bill – with an agreement that will continue to be paid until July unless he takes a job elsewhere.

And that leaves Lampard in a position where he any offer of employment that comes in would potentially cost him a fortune.

The 42-year-old is understood to be happy to be taking a break from the game for a short period following his sacking, having had three highly-pressured seasons since becoming a manager at Derby.