Top candidate emerges to replace ‘sacked’ Frank Lampard at Chelsea

Frank Lampard is to be sacked by Chelsea less than 24 hours after the club’s FA Cup win over Luton Town, claims a report.

The Daily Telegraph report that Chelsea’s players  were told not to report to the training ground until this afternoon.

Chelsea managed to get back to winning ways on Sunday in the cup against lower league opposition, but their league form has been worrying.

The Blues have slipped to ninth in the Premier League and are now five points short of Liverpool in fourth after five defeats in eight games

That has led to speculation that Lampard could be on borrowed time at Stamford Bridge.

And the Telegraph says he could be removed from his position on Monday, just 18 months into a three-year deal.

The under-pressure Chelsea boss, however, said he was prepared to grit his teeth and fight ahead of the weekend. He showed that intent by strongly rebuking a journalist working for The Athletic in Friday’s press conference.

“I’m a fighter first and foremost. It’s how I managed to make a career out of the game as a player,” said Lampard.

“So when I packed up I could have easily stayed in the media or left football completely. I didn’t need to come back in.”

The report claims Lampard “had not sought any reassurances over his future” and was confident he could turn things around.

Replacement talk

Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel and Max Allegri have all been linked with the post.

The German Tuchel is currently out of work, having recently been axed by Paris Saint-Germain. Indeed, The Guardian claims the Blues have been alerted to Tuchel’s apparent interest in succeeding Lampard.
According to Christian Falk of SportBild, Chelsea have made initial contact with the entourages of Massimiliano Allegri and Tuchel.

This is a theory recently backed up by The Athletic, who claim the duo top Roman Abramovich’s list of replacements.

And now Raphael Honigstein “can reveal” Tuchel is the man who will replace Lampard.

Tuchel lost his job at Paris Saint-Germain at Christmas, just four months after taking them to the Champions League final.

Tuchel joined the club at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, winning back-to-back league titles as well as the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue in 2020.