By Spy Uganda
Chelsea will appoint Frank Lampard as caretaker manager until the end of the season on Thursday.
Lampard is expected to take training on Thursday afternoon and be in charge for Chelsea’s next game at Wolves on Saturday after agreeing a deal to return to his former club.
Nothing has been discussed about Lampard staying beyond the summer with the process for identifying and appointing a full-time head coach continuing.
Lampard was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch Chelsea’s goalless draw against Liverpool just 48 hours after Graham Potter was sacked.
Lampard, Chelsea’s record goalscorer, was dismissed as head coach at Stamford Bridge in January 2021. He then took over at Everton but lost his job in January after less than a year in the role.
A caretaker move for Lampard comes after Chelsea held talks in London with former Barcelona and Spain boss Luis Enrique over their managerial vacancy.
The 52-year-old, who is out of work after leaving the Spain job following the World Cup, won the treble at Barcelona in 2014/15, lifting LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
The Spaniard and former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann are the leading contenders to take the job permanently.
Reports say talks between Nagelsmann’s representatives and Chelsea are ongoing and positive.
The 35-year-old, recently sacked by Bayern, wants to manage in the Premier League and sees it as his natural next destination but will not rush into a decision over his future amid strong interest from Chelsea and Tottenham.
The German wants a short period to reset and his preference is to oversee a full pre-season when taking on a new job.
Chelsea are set to assess up to seven candidates as they undergo what they insist will be an “exhaustive process” to replace Potter.
Mauricio Pochettino, Ruben Amorim, Oliver Glasner and Luciano Spalletti are also among those under discussion internally at Chelsea.
However, say former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not a candidate, while Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is not believed to be on the list.
