Jamie Carragher believes Chelsea's swift appointment of Frank Lampard as interim manager until the end of the season means they have a more permanent replacement for Graham Potter already lined up.
Potter was axed by Chelsea earlier this month after just 30 games in charge, following a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa that saw the Blues slip into the bottom half of the Premier League table. Lampard was then named interim boss just four days later and Carragher feels his appointment means Chelsea already have a new permanent manager ready to take over in the summer.
The former Liverpool defender suggested Julian Nagelsmann, who was sacked by Bayern less than a fortnight before Chelsea parted ways with Potter, is set to take over but simply "wanted some time out and to get ready for the summer and have a pre-season".
Speaking on The Overlap Live Tour, in partnership with Sky Bet, Carragher said: "If a manager has an option between Chelsea and Spurs, I think they will choose Chelsea in terms of giving them more chance of a window, and maybe a bigger transfer kitty.
"The fact that they put Frank Lampard in tells me they may already have someone lined up, but that person will come in the summer. I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out in the next few weeks that Julian Naglesmann has agreed to join Chelsea, but he wanted some time out and to get ready for the summer and have a pre-season.
"I might be totally wrong, and they might not have anyone and are still working on it, but to sign Frank straight away and not give it another week to get someone in for a couple of months, makes me feel they have something already lined up for the summer."
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Carragher previously branded Chelsea's decision to appoint Potter in the first place "ridiculous", but said sacking him was the right move. "Chelsea, alongside Real Madrid, are two of the most ruthless clubs in terms of how they deal with managers," he said on Sky Sports.
"It's OK Todd Boehly coming in and saying they are going to do it differently to Roman Abramovich, but I don't care what he says: those supporters, for the last 20 years, have been brought up on a culture of winning trophies, changing managers and getting Champions League winning managers coming every two or three years.
"At the weekend, those fans are chanting at Potter, telling him he doesn't know what he's doing. That's the reason he's gone. It doesn't matter what the owner says."
