Frank Lampard has been sacked as Chelsea head coach after less than two years in charge at Stamford Bridge and is set to be replaced by Thomas Tuchel.
The club’s all-time record goalscorer was appointed ahead of the 2019/20 campaign and led the Blues to a fourth-place finish and FA Cup final in his first season at the helm.
Those were fine achievements in only Lampard’s second year as a manager, especially as Chelsea had served a transfer ban and lost Eden Hazard in the summer of 2019.
However, expectations at Stamford Bridge very much changed after the club embarked on a £200 million-plus spending spree. Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva and Edouard Mendy all arrived last summer. A top-four finish became a minimum expectation.
That Chelsea are currently ninth in the Premier League, well off the Champions League places, and woefully out of form has contributed to Lampard’s dismissal. The struggles of Havertz and Werner also played their part in the departure of arguably the club’s greatest-ever player.
“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him,” owner Roman Abramovich said in a statement published on the Chelsea website.
“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.
“On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future.
“He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”
Tuchel is set to be announced within the next 24 hours and will take charge of his first Chelsea game when the Blues take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.
