Chelsea have allegedly identified former boss Frank Lampard as a potential option for the remainder of the season.
Since the Blues parted company with Graham Potter on Sunday, there has naturally been speculation regarding their next permanent appointment.
Although the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique and Ruben Amorim have all been linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge, the general consensus is that they would all prefer to wait until the summer before making the switch to Stamford Bridge.
Bruno Saltor, a member of Potter's coaching staff, has been handed the reins on a temporary basis, starting his stint with a goalless draw at home to Liverpool.
Chelsea produced an encouraging performance against the Merseyside giants, but yet again struggled in front of goal as they failed to make their dominance count.
© Reuters
As it stands, Bruno is in line to be in charge for Saturday's Premier League fixture at Wolverhampton Wanderers and the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid.
However, according to The Sun, the Chelsea board are prepared to consider the temporary return of Lampard to take them through until the end of the season.
The club legend was in attendance to watch the stalemate with Liverpool on Tuesday night, something which was picked up by the television cameras without any talk of a second spell at the West Londoners.
Nevertheless, the report says that Lampard has emerged as a potential stop-gap, just over two months since he was sacked as manager of Everton.
© Reuters
While Lampard's time at Chelsea and Everton is generally viewed in a negative light, the 44-year-old reached an FA Cup final and had Chelsea topping the Premier League table during the coronavirus pandemic, while he successfully kept Everton in the top flight during 2021-22.
In total, Lampard won 44 of his 84 matches in charge of Chelsea between July 2019 and January 2021, a win percentage of 52.4% which is considerably better than Potter's.
As it stands, it is not clear whether Lampard would be prepared to return to the dugout when knowing that it would only be on a contract until the end of the campaign.
That said, it may be viewed as a free hit at a time when he needs an opportunity to bolster his reputation on the back of a disappointing end to his reign at Everton.
Darren Plant
