How far along are Chelsea in the process to replace the departed Maurizio Sarri? Who will be the new Blues manager now that the Italian has taken the Juventus gig? There had been numerous reports indicating that Chelsea have reached an agreement with Derby County for the release of their manager Frank Lampard, agreeing on a fee in the neighborhood of £4 million.
However, Rams chairman Mel Morris claims that Chelsea have yet to even make an approach for their all-leading scorer. The words of Morris, however, are also contradicted by reports in numerous news outlets. Confused yet?
BBC Sport reported yesterday that the Rams have indeed opened talks with the Blues about the legendary London native.
Additionally, ESPN report that Chelsea will make a formal approach to the Championship side for Frank Lampard this week, as they’re willing to offer their former midfielder a three-year contract. So be sure to take all of that into account when you read the following comments from Morris.
“We have made it very clear to everyone, but most importantly to Frank, that we want to retain Frank for the long term,” Morris is quoted by the BBC.
“If Chelsea want to hire Frank, then it is in their gift to make an offer in pursuit of that.”
“In the meantime, we will continue to put our best foot forward to continue with our plans for the coming season and work with Frank for him to know how much he is wanted by everyone associated with the club.”
If Frank Lampard is not to be the next Blues boss, then here is a very short list of some other potential candidates to take the job.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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