Frank Lampard will offer his assistance to Mauricio Pochettino to help ensure the Argentine makes a smooth start to life in the Chelsea hotseat, according to reports.
The west London club parted company with Graham Potter at the start of the month and have been conducting a thorough and exhaustive search for a replacement, interviewing a host of different candidates.
Axed Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann initially emerged as Chelsea’s first choice, while former Spain coach Luis Enrique was also an early contender for the job.
However, Nagelsmann was believed to have been spooked by the club’s recruitment approach and a deal for Luis Enrique never progressed beyond initial talks.
Pochettino has therefore emerged as the standout candidate and an official announcement is expected soon, although the club are still keeping tabs on the likes of Vincent Kompany and Ange Postecoglou in case negotiations break down at the last minute.
Now The Evening Standard are reporting that Chelsea are already starting to think about their succession plan and interim boss Lampard is on hand to provide feedback and analysis to Pochettino.
The Chelsea legend will ‘make himself available as a sounding board’ to assist with a smooth transition and wants to ensure he does everything possible to help the club be a success going forward.
Lampard is keen to speak to Pochettino and provide an opinion on the squad he is inheriting – and anything else he wants to know – which could prove invaluable as the Argentine plots a way to end Chelsea’s malaise.
The caretaker manager has had to deal with a heavily bloated squad which is in desperate need of trimming – something the new manager will likely want to begin far in advance of pre-season starting, though he will be robbed of the chance to personally run the rule over each player.
Chelsea have struggled enormously in front of goal this season, netting just 30 times in 31 Premier League matches, and have lost all four of their games under Lampard so far.
Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali are believed to have been particularly impressed by Pochettino during the managerial hunt and ideally they would like the new man installed before the end of the season – preferably so he can watch a few matches live in the stands.
Pochettino will be joined at Stamford Bridge by his long-established backroom staff of assistant Jesus Perez, coach Miguel D’Agostino and goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez, while his son, Sebastiano, has been head sports scientist at Tottenham and PSG.
