Breaking: Chelsea appoint Lampard as caretaker manager

Chelsea has appointed the former club’s midfielder and coach, Frank Lampard, as the caretaker manager until the end of the season.

Chelsea announced this via a statement issued on Thursday, April 6.

Lampard, who was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch Chelsea’s goalless draw against Liverpool just 48 hours after Graham Potter was sacked, will be in charge for Saturday’s match against Wolves.

The club stated: “Chelsea FC has announced that Frank Lampard has been named Caretaker Manager until the end of the season.

“The move marks a return to Stamford Bridge for Frank who enjoyed an illustrious playing career with the Blues, winning the Premier League on three occasions and the UEFA Champions League in Munich. He managed the club for 84 games, including guiding us to an FA Cup final.”

Speaking on the appointment, Chelsea co-owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, said: “We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club.

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“As we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the remainder of the season. We want to give ourselves every chance of success and Frank has all of the characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.

“We have an important game against Wolves on Saturday and then we will turn our attention to our Champions League quarter-final in Madrid next week.

“We are all going to give Frank our full backing as we aim to get the best possible outcome from all our remaining games.”

Lampard, who is Chelsea’s record goalscorer, was dismissed as the club’s coach in January 2021 following 18 months in the job.

The 44-year-old former midfielder then took charge at Everton, but was sacked in January after less than a year in the role.

The appointment of Lampard as the caretaker manager comes after Chelsea held talks in London with former Barcelona and Spain coach, Luis Enrique, over their managerial vacancy.

The 52-year-old, who is out of work after leaving the Spain job following the World Cup, won the treble at Barcelona in 2014/15, lifting LaLiga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League.

Chelsea are set to assess up to seven candidates as they undergo what they insist will be an “exhaustive process” to replace Potter.

Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino, Ruben Amorim, Oliver Glasner, and Luciano Spalletti are also among those under discussion internally at Chelsea.

The Star