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Chelsea may offer Frank Lampard head coach job as alternative options are unavailable or out of reach
Chelsea may be faced with little option but to offer Frank Lampard an earlier than anticipated return to the club as head coach.
Maurizio Sarri’s return to Italy with Juventus will be confirmed once compensation is finally agreed, leaving Chelsea to hunt for his successor.
Lampard has always been viewed as a Chelsea manager in waiting, but the club would have ideally approached him after more than one year in charge of Derby County in the Championship.
Chelsea’s hand may be forced, however, as a number of Lampard’s rivals for the post this time round could prove to be out of reach.
Ajax coach Erik ten Hag as admirers inside Stamford Bridge, but Dutch sources expect him to stay in Amsterdam after taking the club to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Bayern Munich are also thought to be impressed by Ten Hag, as the Germans consider whether or not to make their own managerial change.
Max Allegri is out of work after leaving Juventus. There would be doubts about appointing a third successive Italian at Chelsea and there are claims he wants to take time out to prepare for his next job.
England manager Gareth Southgate has stated he is confident that his assistant Steve Holland will not go anywhere before next summer’s European Championships, while Watford are confident of keeping hold of Javi Gracia.
Gracia signed a new Watford contract in November and it is understood that the Hornets would be due significant compensation if the 49-year-old left this summer.
That means that unless Chelsea could tempt Ten Hag to change his mind, or make a serious play for Allegri, the most realistic competition to Lampard could be Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Nuno Espirito Santo or out-of-work Laurent Blanc.
Having sold Eden Hazard to Real Madrid, Chelsea are also facing the prospect of a two-window transfer ban that is currently due to start this summer.
Despite concerns over his level of experience, the appointment of Lampard would go down extremely well with a large number of Chelsea fans.
It would also be welcomed by the club’s bright young stars, who have been excitedly messaging each other and chatting about the prospect of Lampard taking over.
With the prospect of a transfer ban hanging over them, Chelsea may have to lean heavily on some of their Academy graduates next season and Lampard is viewed as the perfect man among the young players to oversee that process.
He took midfielder Mason Mount and defender Fikayo Tomori with him to Derby and the pair shined during their season-long loan deals.