Three possible Chelsea next manager ‘revealed’ as Abramovich set to sack Lampard
Frank Lampard is under serious threat of being sacked as Chelsea manager.
According to various well-placed sources in the British media, Chelsea had already been lining up potential replacements before the Premier League match against Manchester City.
Sunday’s 3-1 home defeat to Pep Guardiola’s men has now piled the pressure on Lampard, who has won only one of his last seven games and finds himself down in eighth position.
This is not acceptable for a team who spent almost €250 million on signings this summer in order to challenge for the Premier League.
So will replace Lampard as Chelsea’s next manager if he gets the chop?
The current favourite with the bookmakers is ex-AC Milan and Juventus manager Max Allegri. Allegri has been out of football since leaving Juventus in 2019.
He has pedigree both domestically and in Europe, winning six Serie A titles with Milan and Juventus, and also reaching two Champions League finals.
He is also keen to move to the Premier League and has been learning English for a number of years. Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment at PSG has taken away his most likely next destination, too.
Second favourite with the bookmakers is PSG’s recently sacked coach Thomas Tuchel. Like Allegri, he has experience of dealing with a dressing room full of big names – having coached the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at PSG.
He also speaks English fluently, prefers an attacking style of football that owner Roman Abramovich desires, and has won league titles already – two in France. The fact that he is German may help get the best out of struggling pair Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
A third possibility is Laurent Blanc. Like Tuchel, Blanc enjoyed great success domestically with PSG – winning three Ligue 1 titles. He also enjoyed a glittering playing career and played in the Premier League with Manchester United.
However, appointing another inexperienced coach with a Chelsea past seems unlikely given Lampard’s struggles.
One manager who will have been considered but is now out of the running is Mauricio Pochettino, who on Saturday was confirmed as the new manager of PSG.