Frank Lampard revealed he wants to stay at Chelsea beyond his current contract though would consider the England job if the offer to manage his country came along.
The Blues manager has a year-and-a-half left on the Chelsea contract he signed when he first joined the club as manager in the summer of 2019. The 42-year-old has a brilliant playing career at Chelsea and is the club's record goalscorer with 211 goals.
After a transitional first season under Lampard which followed a transfer ban, the west Londoners look to have moved to the next level and are looking to improve on last season's fourth-placed finish, a long-term project which the English manager wants to be a part of.
Lampard told the media on Friday: 'Time seems to have flown by and I've got 18 months left. I felt it when I came to the club, I knew there were a lot of circumstances at the beginning that were going to make last year transitional and maybe slightly difficult.
'I felt like I took the job in a different position to most recent Chelsea managers. I think people sympathise with that as well. 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, players that are going to progress and who will mature, and, of course, I would love to be part of that.
'Of course, that's the club's decision and the owner's decision first and foremost, so I have to get on with the short term which starts with Leeds.
'I'm a lucky man to be managing the club that I love and is my life. So, of course, I want to make a success of it and be here as long as I can.'
Lampard recognises that he is fortunate to have been given a great deal of faith by club owner Roman Abramovich given the short life expectancy Chelsea managers have faced over the years.
The 42-year-old is Chelsea's fifth manager over the past five years, with his predecessor Maurizio Sarri lasting just one season despite finishing third and winning the Europa League.
Lampard also praised his relationship with former team-mate and Chelsea performance director Petr Cech, who has helped to build a rejuvenated Blues squad following £253million worth of investment this summer.
The Chelsea manager added: 'That will only ever be decided by the owner and the only thing I can do is look at what's in front of me and at that minute. Since I came in here, the relationship I have with Petr Cech has been a huge strength for me. I get on so well with him and, hopefully, we work well together.
'I said before I would love to do this job as long as possible but I'm also very aware it will be based on results. 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.
'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. What we're doing at the moment, it's really getting people excited, but I know we need to be consistent throughout the season.
'I'm genuinely not thinking too much about my future. I'm just thinking about the game-to-game at the minute. I guess the future will look after itself either way after that.'
As well as having a successful playing career with Chelsea, where he won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and both European cup competitions, Lampard also had a superb career for England at international level.
The former midfielder was capped 106 times by his country and represented the Three Lions in three World Cups between 2006 and 2014 and one European Championships campaign in 2004.
Lampard has been touted as a potential long-term successor to Gareth Southgate as England manager but the 42-year-old was keen to stress his commitment to Chelsea and admits the Three Lions job is not on his mind at the moment.
The Chelsea boss added: 'It's certainly not anything that's on my short-term radar. But I'm very patriotic, I loved playing for my country but, at the moment, I'm focused on trying to do my best here in a long-term way, which is all I can think about.
'I appreciate if there was ever an opportunity, later down the line, it's something I would certainly look at but you should never get too far down the line in this job.'
Lampard's Chelsea host Leeds United on Saturday night looking to go top of the Premier League table.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com