Frank Lampard's biggest and longest-lasting impact at Chelsea as a manager was undoubtedly the effect he had on the club's youth academy. For the first time since Roman Abramovich took over the club a group of shining stars came through at once.
It was partly needed due to the transfer ban imposed, but Lampard's impressive work with inexperienced Championship players at Derby County on loan from the club helped his stock rise. Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori were handed England call-ups within 12 months of their Chelsea debuts.
Tammy Abraham was the club's top scorer in the first season, netting 15 times from open play, more than any player has managed since 2019/20. Ruben Loftus-Cheek was on loan but Callum Hudson-Odoi was called upon too. Lampard also gave debuts to Reece James - now one of the world's best defenders - as well as Armando Broja, Ian Maatsen and Marc Guehi.
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Outside of those, teenager Billy Gilmour was thrust into the spotlight in 2020 too. His first start came against a dominant Liverpool side as he won man of the match in a 2-0 League Cup victory. Gilmour was one of the big finds for the Blues at the time and every time he played, he impressed.
Of the 22 games he went on to play for Chelsea, 17 were under Lampard. Gilmour was loaned out by Thomas Tuchel at Norwich last season and never truly trusted despite feeting appearances here and there. He was eventually sold for less than £10m to Brighton over the summer, a snip for a player with such talent.
His early showings for the Blues attracted the attention of Roy Keane too. "From his performance the other night, he was fantastic," the former Manchester United midfielder said after his debut. "As the game started I literally got out of my seat, which I very rarely do, and I thought, ‘Who is this kid?’
"There are certain traits you want from a midfielder, quality on the ball, football intelligence, composure. He had everything, it was one of the best performances I have seen in a long, long time. The downside for the kid now is he’s got to back it up. It’s a different kind of test for him now to back it up.
"Just his general play I thought it was like a world class player. That’s what he looked like straight away. I thought it was one of their experienced lads and then I kept a close eye on him for the rest of the game and everything he did throughout the game just had quality written all over it."
He went on to add more praise for the Scottish international while playing for his country, saying: “Gilmour is a fantastic young talent and maybe Clarke will say ‘I’ll be loyal to the guys who got us there’. But again, a great option because he’s a fantastic young footballer learning his trade. Maybe he comes off the bench. Again, very, very good player.”
Lampard himself was shocked to hear such glowing words from Keane, a man usually hard to impress. "I had to put my cup of tea down to hear Roy say something nice!” Lampard joked on Sky Sports at the time. "Keane was a fantastic midfield player and he probably won’t give credit unless it’s due – and it certainly was due. He’s right, I heard the statements he made about Billy and I think he’s spot on.
"Billy should be happy with that and if he can go and follow the ideas that someone like Roy Keane says when it comes to midfield play he won’t go far wrong."
Gilmour's slight stature but quality of passing range and tempo dictation had drawn him comparisons with Keane's teammates. "Paul Scholes is obviously one of the greatest midfield players I’ve played against in the Premier League," Lampard added. "He would always pick the right pass, he had incredible range.
"If you did try and jump from midfield and get to him and get close to him he’d just play it around the corner because he knew you were coming. Billy has shown early signs of that kind of ability. I’m not comparing him to Scholesy, no way at all, but in terms of those basics that you mentioned, then Billy certainly has them and that’s a great platform to build hopefully a fantastic career."
Lampard's ability to develop young players has been proven with the transfer fees recouped for those that impressed under him. Over £100m was raised for Guehi, Abraham, Gilmour and Tomori whereas Mount and James would fetch upwards of at least £50m each at current market value, comfortably.
Had Lampard remained at Chelsea then those players may well have all stayed, too. As for now, he will have to do without Gilmour, though Enzo Fernandez is proving an extremely capable alternative.
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