According to the latest reports, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is wasting no time in making ruthless decisions as to the club as he has decided the fate of eight players by decided to either sell them or loan them out in the summer. The Blues manager is still with his squad at their preseason training camp in Dublin and is making bold choices even before the season begins.
Maurizio Sarri departed Chelsea just a few weeks ago after the Italian had the chance of returning to Italy after the job at Juventus opened up. The 60-year-old master tactician was in charge of the Blues for just one season but achieved quite an incredible feat as he helped the club to a third-place in the Premier league table and also the final of League Cup which Chelsea, unfortunately, lost out to Manchester City on penalties. However, Sarri managed to his first-ever title in his managerial as he helped Chelsea to win the Europa League title.
There was clearly a rift between Sarri and the club which caused uncertainty among the fans as well as the players. This led to Sarri stepping down as Chelsea manager and a former face in the form of Frank Lampard filled in the void almost immediately. The 41-year-old former Blues midfielder has just one year of management experience with Derby County and Lampard nearly led the Rams to Premier League promotion but ended up losing the Championship play-off final.
However, Lampard has already assessed his squad and despite the transfer ban which does not allow the West London outfit to purchase players for a whole year and two transfer windows. The ex-England midfielder was in charge of Chelsea’s first game in the preseason against Bohemians in Dublin and after the 1-1 draw, he has decided that eight players will return home from the preseason.
Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown, Lucas Piazon, Trevoh Chalobah, Dujon Sterling, Ike Ugbo, Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi are the players that will return to Cobham in Surrey. These eight youngsters will now either be sold or sent out on loan.
Speaking in his first post-match interview after the 1-1 draw Lampard explained that his Chelsea side need to work on their fitness but also stated that he is pleased with the outcome and result, “It was a tough game for us,” We have not been back for long and this was our first game after just a few days so there was a bit of pressure on the lads to work today. We have been working them very hard and we did the same this morning as well. I want to stretch them because that is what pre-season is all about. We wanted to win obviously because you always do but it is not about that at this point – it is about individuals getting fit and pushing themselves to the limit. We were pleased with the outcome and I thought some of the performances, particularly from some of the young lads, were really good.”
