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Frank is back at the Bridge! Lampard returns to Chelsea as Caretaker manager until the end of the season following Graham Potter’s sacking.
Frank Lampard has made a surprising comeback to Chelsea, with the club appointing him as interim manager following Graham Potter’s dismissal.
The 44-year-old, who played for 13 years in west London, has reacted to an SOS from his former employers after they were forced to look for a new manager once more.
Potter was sacked after just 31 games as manager, and despite having close relationships with players like Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann, no permanent replacement has been named before the conclusion of the 2022–23 season.
It has offered Lampard the chance to take full control once more, nearly two years after the Blues gave him his own marching orders.
The former England player was sacked by Everton in January of this year after serving as manager at Goodison Park for a year after leaving a significant Premier League position in January 2021 with 44 victories from 84 games in charge.
Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali told the club’s official website: “We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club. 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.”
According to multiple sources, including Sportsmail, the former midfielder allegedly arrived back in Cobham on Thursday to partake in his first training with his new team.
Together with Joe Edwards and Paul Clement, who have previously lived in west London, he will be joined by fellow Blues icon Ashley Cole.
Frank Lampard returns as Caretaker Manager until the end of the season. 🤝
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 6, 2023
Lampard’s appointment means N’Golo Kante will play under four different managers (Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor and Lampard) in five consecutive matches, due to his long-term injury which saw him out of action between August and March.
Lampard takes over as manager of a team that has received £600 million ($748 million) in investment over the course of the previous two transfer windows as Chelsea sits 11th in the Premier League rankings.
In his first game back, the Blues will travel to Wolves on Saturday. The first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal matchup with Real Madrid will take place at Santiago Bernabeu the following Wednesday.