Frank Lampard's Chelsea return this summer became INEVITABLE, says Derby chief

Chelsea have been given permission to hold talks with Frank Lampard by Derby ahead of his proposed summer move. The 41-year-old is imminently expected to take over from Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge. Lampard is expected to be handed a three-year deal worth £12million to become Chelsea’s new manager. Derby's owner Mel Morris says keeping Lampard became unrealistic once Chelsea came calling. He said on talkSport: “If Frank had done a poor job at Derby, this wouldn’t be happening. But I still think it would probably be happening if we had gone up, because I don’t think you can compare managing Chelsea right now with probably 70-80 other clubs in the country. It is one of the top jobs and when we interviewed Frank originally, we talked about this very eventuality. “At some stage, Frank is probably going to want to manage at Chelsea. So, from that perspective, there was always a risk. We didn’t think it would come around at the end of the first season, but equally you couldn’t have predicted what was going to happen. Them having a manager moving on, their transfer ban coming around and there is a whole raft of things which have brought this opportunity to bear.”

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