Frank Lampard has revealed the reason for his retirement from international football, after the former Chelsea midfielder spoke about his conversation about Arsenal legend Tony Adams with new Manchester United defender Luke Shaw, according to Metro.

The former England international has been instrumental in Chelsea’s recent history, after living up to the expectations of the experts and supporters over his career. Lampard has been one of the most consistent midfielders in the history of the Barclays Premier League, and his scoring record speaks volumes about his talent. A box-to-box midfielder with an eye for goal, Lampard proved critics wrong along every step in his career, and won the faith of the several managers and the fans alike. During Rafa Benitez’s time as manager of Chelsea, Lampard was not favoured for a spot in the first team, and the experienced stalwart had to sit several sequences of matches on the bench. However, as the season progressed, Lampard came back into the side and maintained his spot in the starting lineup. He has won several major trophies at the club level, but could not inspire the national side, as the wait goes on for the Three Lions to win a major trophy in recent history.

Lampard spoke to the press about his conversation with Shaw, and explained that as soon as the defender questioned the identity of Adams, he knew it was time to retire as he realised he was certainly on the older end of the spectrum.