Chelsea and Frank Lampard have been given a huge boost with the postponement of next year's AFCON tournament.
The African competition was set to take place in Cameroon next January, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has been postponed a year.
The Blues signed Hakim Ziyech in February, and the Moroccan could have left the side to join up with his national team.
However, that will now not happen until 2022, meaning that Lampard will have a full season of Ziyech in his squad.
The Blues signed the winger from Ajax back in February and his time with the club is set to start tomorrow.
Along with Timo Werner, Ziyech could be part of Chelsea’s training for the rest of the campaign to prepare them for the 2020/21 season, when they will officially be able to play for the Blues.
“I am in the process of arranging that plan now,” Lampard said. “You are right, they do become our players. They are also in different positions in the fact that Hakim hasn’t played for a long time because the Dutch league situation and Timo finished at the weekend.
“We will formulate a plan for them that will look slightly different individually. We will decide in the meantime at Cobham in the training ground whether that means mixing with the squad or whether that means some physical work in the shorter term for themselves.
"The first issue is how we finish the season, that’s absolutely what we are focused on and my main focus. In terms of the two players, individually, we need to make sure they arrive with good fitness and freshness levels for next season.
“It will be a longer break than the players we already have in our squad so I will take that into account.
"When I feel it is the right time to bring them in and around the squad during this season, I can do that. If not, the absolute priority is making sure they are ready for the next season.”
