‘Agreement is close’ for Lampard to make ‘stunning return’ as manager on interim basis

According to reports, Chelsea are set to make club legend Frank Lampard their new interim head coach until the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

The Blues have been looking for a new manager since the club’s hierarchy parted company with Graham Potter at the end of last week.

The ex-Brighton boss was only in charge for around seven months after replacing Thomas Tuchel. He was dismissed after Chelsea’s 2-0 loss to Aston Villa dropped them down to 11th in the Premier League.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique are the leading contenders to take over at Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis. 

As part of our Mediawatch article on Wednesday, we understandably scoffed when The Sun hinted Lampard could be making a ‘shock return’ to the club.

But we have now been made to look quite daft. Several outlets reported on Wednesday evening that Lampard is set to return to his former club.

The Guardian have said Chelsea have ‘opened talks with Lampard over a stunning return as interim manager as they continue to search for a permanent replacement for Potter’.

This was later backed up by David Ornstein of The Athletic. His report adds.

‘Chelsea are working on a deal to appoint Frank Lampard as their new head coach on an interim basis until the end of the season.

‘The west London club are close to an agreement which would see Lampard — who was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch Chelsea draw 0-0 with Liverpool — return two years after leaving.

‘An exhaustive search for a permanent successor to Graham Potter continues in the weeks ahead.

‘The search for Chelsea’s new head coach is being led by the club’s co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, before a decision is ultimately made by co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.’

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan thinks Lampard’s return turns Chelsea into an “even bigger laughing stock”.

“I think it would be laughable,” the former Crystal Palace owner said.

“Lampard was abject failure towards the end at Everton. The culture at Chelsea was poor towards the end.

“In certain quarters, Chelsea are a laughing stock. Why would they want to compound that and become an even bigger laughing stock?

“Frank’s a nice fella, but that’s irrelevant. Putting somebody in the dugout to win a popularity contest…

“There’s two types of people in this world: popular people and successful people. It’s amazing how popular…