London, Dec 24(ANI): Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has been selected as the Premier League’s Player of the Decade, by facts and figures’ wizards Opta.

Opta, who studied every Premier League game since January 2000, declared that Lampard has played in more most games, most wins to his name, second-most number of assists and the fourth-highest goal scoring record.

Lampard pips Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher by five games to most appearances with a total of 346 - 210 of which have been wins, The Sun reported.

He comes second to Manchester United Ryan Giggs with 76 assists and bagged 100 goals, finishing fourth behind top scorer Thierry Henry, who scored 169 times for Arsenal.

When talking about the results, A. S. Roma manager Claudio Ranieri, who signed Lampard from West Ham for 11 million pounds in June 2001, said: “This news fills me with a great satisfaction and pride because Frank Lampard is totally unique.”"He is a complete player and so professional. It doesn’t surprise me that he is the best statistically, ahead of other players you might consider to be even bigger stars. I’ll tell you something. In my view Frank Lampard is a genuine ‘Pallone d’oro’ - which means he should be a European Footballer of the Year. He really is that good,” he added. (ANI)