When Frank Lampard was appointed the manager of Derby County in the summer, it seemed almost inevitable that the former England manager would look to gain a helping hand from his former club Chelsea, as he took the plunge into management.

The 40-year-old, who made over 600 appearances for the London club, looked increasingly likely to go back to his old stomping ground and borrow a couple of players that would certainly enhance the Rams' chances of promotion to the Premier League this term.

Consequently, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori soon arrived at Pride Park, with the duo both failing to make an impact in the first-team at Stamford Bridge, despite enduring a couple of impressive loan spells away from the club.

And ever since their move to the East Midlands, the pair have been influential for Derby ever since, and have played their part in the club's push for Sky Bet Championship play-off positions this term.

Tomori has been perhaps the Rams' unsung hero this year, forging a solid partnership in defence with Richard Keogh, and keeping an established defender in Efe Ambrose out of the starting line-up for the duration of the season.

[ad_pod ]

Mount, on the other hand, has been anything other than unsung. The 20-year old has showed his true quality in England after a couple of years on loan with Vitesse, becoming the standout performer for the Rams this term.

Scoring 10 goals and producing four assists for Lampard's men this season, the playmaker, as well as Tomori, are likely to have big futures ahead of them, and they will return from their loan spell surely full of confidence of forcing themselves into Maurizio Sarri's first-team plans next season.

With AFC Bournemouth believed to be circling around Mount, having already been called up to the England squad this term, it seems inevitable that the duo will be moving onto bigger and better things next term - but this doesn't mean that Lampard should give up on signing them by any means.

Chelsea will have got what they wanted out of these two loan spells, but if they can see that the duo are flourishing during their time at Pride Park, then who's to say that they won't stay for another year?

Of course, Derby may even be a top-flight side come next season, but even if they do not go up via the play-offs, if anyone can convince Mount and Tomori to stayanother year, it's a man who has won the Premier League three times with the Blues...