Frank Lampard believes that it is possible Carney Chukwuemeka can have the best of both worlds by remaining with Chelsea, having not been allowed to immediately join up with England's under-20 World Cup squad. Injuries to Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella prevented Lewis Hall from being named in the squad at all, while issues in the centre of the pitch have seen Chukwuemeka prevented from travelling to Argentina for the group stage of the tournament, but he could still feature if the Three Lions reach the knockout stages.
The former Aston Villa youngster is yet to feature under Lampard, with fixtures against Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle remaining. Chukwuemeka has earned just 371 minutes all season since joining from the Midlands club, and was keen to make the trip to South America as he looks to find some momentum.
Chelsea's caretaker manager was keen to impress the needs of the club for the final stretch of the season however. Lampard conceded that he did feel for his charge however.
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He said: "He's a Chelsea player and we've got injuries in that area. The situation with Carney is he's come into a club, a big move for him, and this season hasn't managed to get so many minutes, the size of the squad, and settling in at a new club. Hopefully, there's an opportunity in these three games for him. He's our player, and we have lost players we need him to stay. There's a possibility he can join up at the end of the season if the team get through into the next stages. It might be the best of both worlds in an ideal way but it's our player and we had to make that decision. I felt a bit for Carney, he was keen to go but at the same time what happened meant he had to stay."
The Blues are potentially open to facilitating a loan for Chukwuemeka ahead of next term, with the midfielder struggling for minutes despite being able to position himself within the first-team squad. Eventually, Chelsea hope to be able provide such options through a network of clubs with Todd Boehly and co keen to implement a multi-club model.
Chelsea's hierarchy are said to be interested in gaining a stake in clubs in France or Portugal, with the reports suggesting a bid has already been rejected for Portimonense. Lampard has already worked as part of a multi-club set-up when he left Chelsea and joined Manchester City, going on to play for New York City as part of City Football Group.
Lampard believes that a consistent message has helped align the clubs in success.
He explained: "I'm not going to say what Chelsea have to learn but I will say that I was so impressed with my City group experience, in New York as well. It was very well run, a big vision for where they wanted to take the club that for me felt always it was a consistent vision that didn't change and change because of short-term results and short-term moments. It was, 'This is what we're going to build and build and build'.
"To build you have to go through some tough periods. Maybe it was Pep's first year when he is trying to do what he wanted to do and realised 'I need players to do it' or whatever it was and being aligned on that front and then you can work towards something really positive. I always felt that at City, a great personal touch from the people at the top of the club, the chairman, the sporting directors, for many people who worked behind the scenes. I've got a lot of affection for the year I had at City and the 18 months I had in New York."
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