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Is Lampard the best midfielder in Premier League history?

John Sibley / Reuters

Frank Lampard is hanging up his boots after a 21-year career, having etched his name in Premier League history.

The Chelsea icon announced his retirement on Thursday, bringing to a close a storied career that saw him play for West Ham, Manchester City, Swansea, and New York City FC on either end of a 13-year stay at Stamford Bridge.

As he takes his final bow, the question must be asked: Was Lampard the greatest midfielder in Premier League history?

He very well might be.

Only three other players could challenge Lampard for that crown: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, and Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. The rest cannot measure up in the metrics by which footballers are often judged.

Unlike the aforementioned trio, Lampard played for a few different Premier League outfits, and his success was of his own making. It cannot be attributed to the consistency of his team's system or by the influence of long-tenured managers - certainly not at an ever-changing Chelsea, which had neither.

Instead, Lampard took the talents he possessed - for he was gifted with neither blistering pace or fleet-footed instinct - and provided each of his managers the intangible, invaluable quality of consistency. That, and a penchant for goals.

It's important to keep in mind, when discussing Lampard's stat sheet, that he was a midfielder, and, as such, had the responsibilities that come with being a midfielder, too. Yet, he put up numbers that would make any striker envious.

Related: Lampard's retirement triggers flurry of tributes from football world

Let's get to it, shall we?

Lampard notched 177 goals in the Premier League over 609 appearances, good for fourth all time in league history behind strikers Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, and Andrew Cole. He leads the Blues with 211 goals in all competitions, and scored against a record 39 different teams.

His gift to each of his managers at Chelsea was reaching double-digits each year, notching at least 10 goals in 10 consecutive seasons. Add his 102 league assists, and Lampard is the third player to record 100 goals and assists in Premier League history, alongside Giggs and Rooney.

Giggs scored 168 goals in 963 appearances; Gerrard, 186 goals in 710 total appearances. When it comes to scoring averages, Lampard's got them beat. But there was more to his goals than simply putting a ball into the back of the net. It was how he did so.

Chelsea was blessed with one of the Premier League's best poachers in Didier Drogba. It's why Lampard had to find his own spaces, outside the box, from which to operate. But that means he had the likes of Javier Mascherano, Owen Hargreaves, Gareth Barry, Patrick Vieira, and Gilberto Silva breathing down his neck. It didn't stop him from scoring a record 41 goals from outside the box.

Penalties, free-kicks, and corners provided him additional chances at goal, and while he didn't offer the dazzle of some of his teammates, his quick reflexes more than made up for it over the course of 648 appearances with the Blues.

It's what made Lampard a key figure - and, often, the key figure - in Chelsea's three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, two Community Shields, and Europa League and Champions League triumphs.

And he was there for nearly all of it.

No midfielder comes close to matching Lampard's ability to stay and play on the field. He made a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances and did so with little controversy on the field. He was issued just two red cards during his entire Premier League career, though not for a lack of effort.

Lampard was as competent on the back foot as he was going forward, boasting a 71 percent tackle success rate, winning roughly half his overall challenges, and making just two errors leading to a goal during his entire stay.

All this made him an example to follow, and a leader unlike any other at the club. On a rainy night in Moscow, when John Terry's missed penalty cost his team the Holy Grail of a first Champions League title, it was Lampard who consoled him, before bringing redemption as captain four years later.

There was nothing Lampard failed to accomplish in the Premier League. And his England career, though less storied, was equally fruitful at its high points. His is a story of a man who defied what it means to be a midfielder, thriving in a way no one else in his position ever had or might ever replicate again.

He retires a Chelsea legend, a record-breaking stalwart, a humble leader, bringer of trophies and of goals, and the greatest midfielder the Premier League has ever beheld.

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