Frank Lampard is set for a sensational return to Chelsea - two years after he was sacked at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are on the lookout for a new manager having shown Graham Potter the door after a prolonged period of poor results. They've begun interviewing possible candidates, but with nine games to go in the league any new boss may well wait until the summer to take charge.
Lampard is therefore has agreed to take the role on an interim basis which will see him take Chelsea through until the end of the season. There is little to play for domestically, although a strong run could see them sneak into the European spots. However there is a crunch clash to come against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Chelsea's record goalscorer previously led the Blues to a top four finish despite being restricted by a transfer ban. The following summer he and the club spent big however, which heightened expectations, but Lampard was unable to deliver the necessary results and was axed with the west Londoners in mid-table.
He's seen been in the Everton dugout, but was sacked earlier this term with the Toffees battling the drop. It was unclear where Lampard's next opportunity would arise, but the stars have aligned and a return to Chelsea looks to be on the cards.
Facing the axe
Those who relieved Lampard of his duties in January 2021 have now departed the club due to the change of ownership. Roman Abramovich and his allies weren't known for their patience and eventually they decided to sack the club legend.
Lampard had seen a host of heavyweight managers go during his time as a player and wasn't naive to the situation. A win over Luton was his final outing in the dugout as just days later he was facing a new experience as he was dismissed for the first time.
He told the Overlap previously: "When I met Bruce and Marina, it was very cordial - I knew what was coming then. Not at the time but I was thankful for the period, you understand what it is - they are going to move on and there is nothing you can do about it, I've never been in that position before and it was a little bit surreal at the time, but it is what is. When you take the job, you understand that call may come, unless you are winning back to back titles that's going to happen."
Transfer business
Lampard's cause wasn't helped by the heavy investment made in the playing group. Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell all arrived for notable fees and Chelsea looked to make up for lost time in the market.
The Blues are doing similar under the current regime with Todd Boehly flexing his financial muscles in a way we haven't seen since the early Abramovich days. There was a school of thought that suggested the Russian billionaire and those closest to him were, at times, the ones signing the players and simply handing them to the manager.
Lampard, who by no means had the stature of some of the managers who'd come before him, pushed back on that idea and maintains had he not wanted a player, the club would have listened to his wishes.
He admitted: "It never happened in that way. But I would probably have had that veto, if I'm honest. In that first year, we were transfer banned, we were having conversations about who to bring in in the summer - we obviously bought a fair few players. I was never out of the loop on that, it was never one where I was like, 'They did this behind my back!' I never had that because it was very open.
"The scouting department with Petr [Cech, technical and performance advisor]... Timo was a big one because Liverpool had wanted him, Manchester United I think were in. We knew there were three or four other big clubs, so when I had the conversation with Timo I knew I had to be on my game to get him to come."
A bittersweet triumph
Werner would go on to be part of a team that won the Champions League, just months after Lampard's dismissal. Chelsea chose to bring in Thomas Tuchel, who himself had recently left PSG and was out of work.
The German quickly shored up the Blues' defence and implemented a system that troubled the best sides, namely Manchester City, who they would beat in the final of the European Cup. Lampard had begun that journey by topping the Champions League group.
He'd also introduced a host of academy products at Stamford Bridge, becoming the first Blues boss in the modern era to truly tap into the potential of youth, which had long been praised, yet neglected by previous managers.
Lampard himself claimed European glory with Chelsea in 2012 and was left looking at their 2021 success with mixed feelings. A team he'd created had won the top prize, but it wasn't his team anymore - something he had to accept.
He said: "It’s tough, it was a balance of things. I watched the Champions League final. You watch it and on a football level I can get excited, I can sort of say that part of that is me, Mason Mount played brilliantly in the final, [so did] Reece James, the goal goes from Mendy, to Chilwell to Mount to Havertz, I’m going, ‘that’s a bit of me there’.
"But the other side of me goes, ‘I’m not taking any ownership over that’. I got quite a few messages after [saying], ‘that’s your team’, and I’m like, ‘no, it’s not’, because that’s how I am. "Fair play to Tuchel and the club for taking them there. I’ll never take ownership of that."
