Frank Lampard Set To Return To Chelsea, As An Interim Manager Until The End Of The Season.

Chelsea are set to appoint former player and manager Frank Lampard on an interim basis to manage the club until the end of the season, just over two years after the club sacked him.

Following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel's successor Graham Potter on Sunday after losing 2-0 at home to Aston Villa the previous day, the West London club are on the lookout for a new manager.

They now considering Lampard who has been out of a job since January this year when he was dismissed by Everton after less than a year in charge.

The ex-Chelsea and England midfielder previously managed the Blues from July 2019 until January 2021, when he was replaced by Thomas Tuchel.

In his previous managerial spell at the club, Lampard guided Chelsea to the FA Cup final in his first season in charge, having joined from Derby County.

He led them to 44 wins from 84 matches, but picked up five defeats in his last eight league games, as many as in the previous 23, and was asked by the previous regime in January 2021 having spent 18 months in charge.

After being sacked by Chelsea, Lampard was named Everton boss in January 2022 but was axed from his role eight days shy of his one-year anniversary after nine defeats in 12 Premier League games, a poor performance that left the Toffees fighting relegation.

Lampard who is a club legend at Chelsea, won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and a Champions League as a player. He is also their all-time highest goalscorer.

The 44-year-old was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch their goalless draw against Liverpool just 48 hours after Potter was sacked, and has jumped at the chance to return to the club.

Bruno Saltor was the man in charge as caretaker bosd on that evening, who was brought to the club as part of Potter’s team earlier in the campaign in September.

It remains to be seen whether the Spaniard will still be there when a permanent successor is named, which will now likely be the summer.

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

An appointment of a permanent successor appears more likely to happen in the summer with Lampard’s deal purely short-term and will not go beyond the end of the season.

The Blues are 11th in the Premier League table, 14 points outside the top four, despite having spent more than £550m on new players this season.

Lampard is expected to be in charge for Chelsea's next game at Wolves on Saturday.

They travel to Wolves in the Premier League, before facing Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on 12 April.