TALKING TO FRANK
Frank Lampard set for fairy tale Chelsea return as manager after Sarri joins Juventus in £7m divorce settlement
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FRANK LAMPARD is set for a fairy tale Chelsea return as manager after Maurizio Sarri finalised a switch to Juventus.
Sarri left Stamford Bridge to join the Serie A champions last night after Juve director Fabio Paratici was forced to fly to London and agree a £7million divorce settlement.
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SunSport understands Blues chiefs will now turn to club legend Lampard as a replacement.
Chelsea are braced to make the first formal approach for the Derby boss as they waited for Sarri to secure his move back to Italy after just one season in the Premier League.
It was understood Stamford Bridge bosses wanted Lampard to have one more season in management before making a swoop.
But the club’s record goal scorer is the fans’ favourite and the board have now made him a priority after agreeing for Sarri to leave.
He is relatively inexperienced after just one season in management, though he did get the Rams to the play-off final where they were beaten by John Terry’s Aston Villa.
Derby owner Mel Morris insisted he wants to keep Lampard in the Pride Park hotseat - but remains aware of the inevitable temptation of a move back to West London.
Morris told talkSPORT: "One day maybe Frank will manage Chelsea, I don't doubt that will happen at some point in the future.
"But I just hope when that does happen he can pick up Chelsea at a time where he can go on to be successful.
"Right now we want to keep him.”
Lampard would come back alongside another ex-Chelsea player in Jody Morris, who previously impressed as the club’s Under-18s coach.
Max Allegri, the man Sarri is replacing, was another contender and highly thought after making Juve the dominant force in Italian football.
While two-time Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho told pals he would fancy a third crack with Chelsea and RB Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick was another on the radar.
Chelsea have reluctantly let Sarri go because he made it obvious he wanted out - making it crystal clear in an interview in which he admitted being homesick.
He still has two years left on his £5m a year contract and Stamford Bridge transfer chief Marina Granovskaia was demanding Juve pay the full amount.
Chelsea News
Sarri cleared out the furniture from his Surrey home when the season ended and put it into storage.
Chelsea made one last attempt to get him to change his mind but after it was made clear that was a no-goer they opted to push for the maximum compensation payout.
Sarri’s departure means that Chelsea have lost their best player in Eden Hazard and now the head coach just 15 days after winning the Europa League.
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