Frank Lampard unperturbed with the difficulty of the job at Chelsea

Frank Lampard has said that he is prepared to risk his legacy after becoming the new head coach at Chelsea. The 40-year-old was widely fancied for the role after the departure of Maurizio Sarri and the move has finally been made official after the Blues agreed on a compensation package with Derby County.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Lampard acknowledged that he may be risking his legacy with the job, but he is nonetheless prepared to prove himself, he said: “Maybe it is a risk. I am quite bold. You have to be in football because the minute I stepped into management, what did I want to do? This is no disrespect to Derby, a fantastic club for me, I was ambitious as a player, I wanted to manage at the top. The opportunity to come here, having had my link here, this is an obvious club I would love to manage, simply that. The minute I started management, the minute I realised this could be the case, if I am fortunate and do okay, I get the job at Chelsea and I risk it.”

Lampard does not have the luxury of a transfer budget to improve the squad this summer, considering the club are banned from registering players for the next 12 months. Owing to this, he has the assurance of remaining with the club irrespective of the team’s performance through the 2019/2020 season and that has been suggested as one of the prime factors behind the move.

The former Chelsea midfielder has built a reputation of grooming young players from the short stint at Derby and it remains to be seen whether he is open to offering opportunities to some of the club graduates next term. Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James are among the players in contention for first-team berths next season. Among those, Mount and Tomori played for Derby County under Lampard during the previous campaign.