Chelsea have confirmed record goal-scorer and one of the greats of the club Frank Lampard will return to Stamford Bridge, signing a three-year contract as the new head coach.
Following his first managerial stint in football at Derby County last campaign, Chelsea have opted for Frank Lampard to replace Maurizio Sarri as the head coach of the club. The Blues are reported to pay Derby in a region of four million pounds in compensation.
Lampard guided the Rams to a sixth place finish in the Championship, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier League after a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the play-off final.
After an impressive start to his coaching career, Chelsea identified their former man as the permanent successor to Maurizio Sarri, who joined Juventus last month.
Lampard left the London outfit in 2014 after a trophy-laden 13 years at the club, where he won four FA Cups, three Premier Leagues, two League Cups and both the Champions League and Europa League.
Sealing his return to the club, the newly appointed boss expressed his delight at being given the reigns, telling Chelsea’s website:
“I am immensely proud to be returning to Chelsea as head coach.
Everyone knows my love for this club and the history we have shared, however my sole focus is on the job in hand and preparing for the season ahead.
I am here to work hard, bring further success to the club and I cannot wait to get started.”
Following his retirement from football in 2016, the 41-year-old went down as one of the Chelsea greats, amassing a record 211 goals for the club in 648 appearances.
Lampard will be joined by assistant Jody Morris and first-team coach Chris Jones, whom he worked with at Derby.