Frank Lampard is set be sacked by Chelsea less than 24 hours after the club’s FA Cup victory over Luton Town.
Confirmation could come as soon as today after Chelsea players were told not to report to the training ground until this afternoon.
Chelsea are currently on a poor run of form in the Premier League, losing five of their last eight games and well off the pace, struggling to get into the top four.
Lampard had not sought any reassurances over his future, and was confident he could find a solution to Chelsea’s current predicament.
Now 18 months into the three-year contract he was given when he was appointed in the summer of 2019, Lampard overachieved in his first season in charge – during which the club did not sign any players – by guiding the club to Champions League qualification and the final of the FA Cup.
It is believed that Julian Nagelsmann would be among Chelsea’s top targets to replace Lampard, but it appears unlikely that the German would leave RB Leipzig before the summer.
That would leave Abramovich with the task of either trying to find an interim coach or hiring an out-of-work coach such as former Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel or Max Allegri.
Chelsea have been warned off Tuchel in the past, following his run-ins with his previous employers, but it is not clear whether that would be held against the 47-year-old now.
Lampard’s departure could split opinion among Chelsea fans, particularly those who still idolise him from the former midfielder’s playing days, when he became the club’s all-time record goalscorer.
Speaking before the Luton Town game Lampard said “I’m a fighter first and foremost. It’s how I managed to make a career out of the game as a player. When I packed up, I could have easily stayed in the media or come out of football altogether.
“I didn’t need to get back in. I got back in with a desire to be successful. I didn’t have blinkers on. I knew that there will be tough times and things that you can’t control like you did as a player.
More to follow
