We have a caesarian booked which is not on a match day which we have planned. The phone is always on if she wants to ring but things are OK. I am pretty nervous being this far away, but Elen is a strong girl so I am pretty comfortable. I would be worse if it was a bit closer and we were this far away in America.”We only have another week to go on this trip so hopefully she can hold tight. It didn’t affect his performance in Chelsea’s first match against Milan on Sunday as he was as assured as ever, but he can’t help but worry what is happening elsewhere.
He said: “Elen is a month away from giving birth. The separation is proving tough for Lampard, who wants to give his all to Jose Mourinho’s side but at the same time be there for Rives should anything happen.

The England midfielder is having to closely monitor his phone for any news as fianc?Elen Rives is only a few weeks from giving birth. Unlike Chelsea, however, Arsenal, had to sell a key player before trying to cut such a swathe in the market.. Frank Lampard is spending Chelsea’s US tour not only trying to get into shape for the start of the new season but also preparing to become a father. Only Real Madrid and Milan have come close to matching their spending this summer, each laying out more than £20m, primarily on Robinho and Alberto Gilardino respectively.Both clubs’ largesse will be matched by Arsenal if they can persuade Juan Baptista to leave Seville. He will surely bring us something extra and I agree with coach Fabio Capello when he says that, with Emerson, he makes the best pair of central midfielders in the world.”Even without buying Trezeguet, Chelsea have already spent £32m this summer taking the total expenditure on transfers under Abramovich to £242m in barely two years.

I feel very happy with Juventus and I never thought I could leave.”Instead, Trezeguet finds himself playing alongside his France team-mate Patrick Vieira, who has joined Juventus from Arsenal “I am delighted We all know his qualities He has been Arsenal’s symbol in the past few years. The 27-year-old French striker said: “I was in the United States on holiday and did not really follow Chelsea’s interest in me. I hope he will meet their demands.”This will have been more of a relief than one might expect to the English champions. Abramovich may have the deepest pockets in the game but Chelsea have failed to secure a series of high-profile targets this summer, notably Steven Gerrard, Andrei Shevchencko and David Trezeguet.The latter revealed yesterday that he was never remotely tempted by the prospect of leaving Juventus for Stamford Bridge. With Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, Essien’s other suitors, no longer pursuing a deal Aulas’s position has been weakened.At least Essien wants to join Chelsea, as he made clear when he said “My last hope is Abramovich. However, Mourinho would like his jigsaw pieces in place earlier, preferably before the Community Shield on 7 August while the Lyon coach, G?rd Houllier, needs to finalise plans for his first season in charge of the French champions.

“As long as Essien is here by 31 August we will be happy,” Kenyon said. That failure has forced Kenyon to come back across the Atlantic and mount another attempt to complete the deal.Chelsea’s ultimate deadline is the end of the transfer window. Chelsea, unsurprisingly, regard that as a high price for a 22-year-old player without experience either in the World Cup or Europe’s big four leagues, even if he was voted French player of the year last season by his peers.Chelsea had hoped to secure Essien’s signature before their American tour but had to head to New Jersey last week without him. Chelsea are now trying to work to a budget, albeit one which is still larger than anyone else’s.
Aulas, under pressure for constantly selling his club’s leading players, and for subsequently failing in Europe, wants £32m for the Ghanaian.

Kenyon is in the southern French city to secure the signing of Essien, Jose Mourinho’s last summer transfer target, but not, despite Roman Abramovich’s unparalleled purchasing power, at any price. Substitutes not used: Dudek (gk), Hamann, Warnock, Medjani.Referee: K E Fisker (Denmark).. Peter Kenyon, the chief executive of Chelsea, and Jean-Michel Aulas, the president of Lyon, were locked in negotiations over the midfielder Michael Essien last night, waiting to see which man blinked first. Substitutes not used: Kilijonas, Beniusis, Maciulis, Kunevicius, Kijanskas.Liverpool (4-4-2); Reina; Josemi, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Potter (Garcia, 62), Gerrard (Sissoko, 60), Alonso, Zenden; Ciss?Crouch (Morientes, 75). Gerrard stepped up to score his sixth goal in three qualifying games.FBK Kaunas (4-4-2): Kurskis; Kancelskis, Baguzis, Zelmikas, Manchkhava; Tamosauskas, Poderis, Pacevicius (Petrenko, 44), Barevicius (Papeckys, 71); Klimek, Rimkevicius. His nuisance value alone helped Liverpool assert their superiority over Kaunas in the area where it mattered most, although he will inevitably require longer than one game against limited opposition to suggest he can make the difference between a genuine Premiership improvement and another contest for fourth place.Liverpool’s rapid response to the shock of falling behind removed any uncertainty and edge from the tie, but Gerrard made a place in the third and final qualifying round even more assured in the 54th minute when a trademark run into the penalty area was brought to an abrupt and illegal end by Mindaugas Baguzis. Yet his torment ended as he glanced home Steven Gerrard’s corner to the delight of his team-mates.A goalline clearance by Irmantas Zelmikas denied Ciss?is second of the game moments before the break and he was inches from hooking Liverpool into a commanding lead at the start of the second half.No matter what impact the £14m French international had last night, however, the attention was sure to be concentrated on Crouch.