Derby County have confirmed that manager Frank Lampard has left the club to join Chelsea.

The 41-year-old has signed a three-year contract at Stamford Bridge and Derby have agreed a undisclosed compensation package with Chelsea to allow him to leave.

Derby assistant manager Jody Morris and first-team coach Chris Jones have also left the club to join Lampard's coaching staff at Chelsea as part of the compensation agreement.

Lampard impressed in his first season as a manager with Derby and was able to guide the Rams to the Championship play-off final.

The former Chelsea midfielder has been the favourite to succeed Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge for weeks, after the Italian left the club to join Juventus last month, after just one season in charge.

Derby owner Mel Morris had hoped to keep hold of Lampard and had opened talks with him over extending his deal at Pride Park, amid the reported interest from Chelsea.

Lampard was given permission to speak to Chelsea last week and was excused from pre-season training at Derby this week to continue his talks with owner Roman Abramovich.

Former PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce boss Phillip Cocu is reportedly set to replace Lampard at Pride Park.

The Verdict 

Lampard did a fantastic job in his first season as a manager with Derby last season, but I think it's fair to say that this appointment has happened a lot sooner than any of us could have expected when he took charge at Pride Park a year ago.

I'm not sure Lampard is experienced enough to manage a club like Chelsea at this stage of his career, but you can't blame him for taking the job, given his personal links to the club.

The expectations at Chelsea will be much higher than at Derby and I hope that Lampard is given proper time to achieve success - something that Chelsea haven't always given their managers in the past.

It's a real blow for Derby to lose Lampard and it does not leave the club's next manager a lot of time to get to know the players ahead of the new season.