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Chelsea confirm Frank Lampard as manager as former England international makes Stamford Bridge return

Dimitri Kondonis

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has returned to Stamford Bridge as manager.

The former England midfielder has been in talks with the west London club for several weeks after Derby County confirmed discussions were ongoing in June.

And Lampard, who made 609 Premier League appearances through his career, has returned to Chelsea as expected in a deal finally announced by the club.

READ MORE: Frank Lampard’s to-do list at Stamford Bridge

He signed a three-year deal with the club where he became a top flight icon.

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: “It gives us great pleasure to welcome Frank back to Chelsea as head coach. Frank possesses fantastic knowledge and understanding of the club and last season, he demonstrated he is one of the most talented young coaches in the game.

“After 13 years with us as a player, where he became a club legend and our record goalscorer, we believe this is the perfect time for him to return and are delighted he has done so. We will do everything we can to ensure he has all the support required to be a huge success.”

People walks past Stamford Bridge, London, Friday June 28, 2019. Frank Lampard has returned to Chelsea as the club’s 12th manager in 16 years under Roman Abramovich’s ownership. The former Chelsea midfielder has left second-tier club Derby, where he spent he came close to securing promotion to the Premier League in his first season in management. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Frank Lampard has returned to Chelsea as the club’s 12th manager in 16 years. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
FILE - In this Sunday, May 4, 2014 file photo, Chelsea's John Terry and Frank Lampard walk around the pitch at the end of their English Premier League soccer match against Norwich City, at the Stamford Bridge Stadium in London. Derby and Aston Villa meet at Wembley Stadium on Monday, May 27, 2019 in the League Championship playoff final as they look to secure promotion to the Premier League. Derby manager Frank Lampard and Villa assistant manager John Terry are recently retired former teammates for Chelsea and England who are in their first seasons in coaching. (AP Photo/Bogdan Maran, file)
Frank Lampard, who became an icon of Chelsea alongside John Terry. (AP Photo/Bogdan Maran, file)

Lampard added: “I am immensely proud to be returning to Chelsea as head coach. Everyone knows my love for this club and the history we have shared, however, my sole focus is on the job in hand and preparing for the season ahead.

“I am here to work hard, bring further success to the club and I cannot wait to get started.”

Lampard has only been in management for one season - with Championship club Derby County.

Alongside the likes of Harry Wilson and Mason Mount, the former West Ham player led the Rams to the Championship play-off final.

But after a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, the Chelsea legend failed to reach the Premier League at the first time of asking with the Rams.

Despite that disappointment, he departed for the Blues after former boss Maurizio Sarri opted to move to Juventus.

Derby added that assistant manager Jody Morris and first team coach Chris Jones will join Lampard.

The Rams’ executive chairman, Mel Morris CBE, told the club’s website: “Frank, along with Jody and Chris, leave with our best wishes and I sincerely hope they have success at Chelsea.

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Frank and while we would have loved his time at Derby County to continue, to build on the positives we saw last season, the opportunity for him to return to Chelsea as their Head Coach was huge.

“As a club, we have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Chelsea recently and would like that to continue moving forward.”

Meanwhile, Betfair have Frank Lampard at 4/1 to bring silverware in his first season with Chelsea but just 5/6 to leave before the end of the season.

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