Frank Lampard’s appointment as Chelsea’s new head coach should be confirmed in the next 48 hours with Derby County having excused their manager from pre-season preparations as they accelerate their own pursuit of a successor.
Lampard and Chelsea have spent the last few days discussing the finer details of his contract back at Stamford Bridge, where he established himself as their all-time leading scorer over a glittering 11-year association with the club. The 41-year-old, whose solitary season with Derby represents his only experience as a coach, will replace Maurizio Sarri after the Italian returned to Serie A to take up the reins at Juventus.
The Derby owner, Mel Morris, attributed the delay to confirming Lampard’s appointment to the former England midfielder having been in France in holiday. “I’m assuming [it’s a matter of time now], I’m assuming so,” Morris told TalkSport. “Obviously it’s a matter between Chelsea and Frank at this stage, but they’ve now got the opportunity to finalise matters.
“When Frank and I first met, we discussed this very eventuality. The only difference is the timing of this. Of course I believe, at this point, Frank and Chelsea need to have the time to finalise the transaction between them. You could say [they have had plenty of time] but, in fairness, Frank was away on vacation and didn’t come back until Friday – a well-deserved vacation after a tough season – and that’s been a big factor.”
Derby County has excused Frank Lampard from reporting back for pre-season training on Monday and Tuesday to allow his discussions regarding a potential move to Chelsea to be concluded as soon as possible.
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) July 1, 2019
Derby’s players returned to the club’s training centre on Monday to begin work under the guidance of fitness, medical, conditioning and sports science staff but Lampard and his assistant, Jody Morris, were allowed to continue their talks with Chelsea. The Championship club had granted the Europa League winners permission to speak with their manager last week and will receive £4m in compensation when Lampard leaves.
“We will now accelerate those efforts over the course of this week,” Morris said when asked about the appointment of a successor at Pride Park. “We’re very keen on getting something sorted out ahead of the forthcoming tour to Florida.” The first-team squad will fly to the US this week for a training camp and a friendly against Sarasota Metropolis on 10 July.
Chelsea have confirmed the departures of Gary Cahill, Eduardo, Rob Green and Kyle Scott upon the expiry of their contracts, while Gonzalo Higuaín has returned to Juventus after spending the second half of last season on loan in south-west London. Mateo Kovacic has been confirmed as a permanent signing from Real Madrid in a deal that could rise to £44.8m following his season-long loan last term, with Chelsea hoping to follow up that deal by securing Callum Hudson-Odoi to a new five-year contract on improved terms.
