Derby County owner Mel Morris is hoping that Frank Lampard will turn down the chance to become the next manager of Chelsea.
Lampard has been given permission to speak to Chelsea over the vacant managerial position at Stamford Bridge and is expected to replace Maurizio Sarri, after impressing in his first season as a manager with the Rams.
The 41-year-old was able to guide Derby to the Championship play-off final last season and is the favourite to succeed Sarri at Chelsea, following his decision to leave the club to join Juventus earlier this month.
Derby are keen to keep hold of Lampard and have opened talks with their manager of extending his contract at Pride Park, amid interest from Chelsea.
However, Chelsea have now opened talks with Lampard over him becoming the next manager at Stamford Bridge and have told Derby that they are prepared to pay the £4million compensation clause in his contract.
Derby owner Morris revealed that himself and Lampard discussed the possibility of him being offered the Chelsea job, but admitted that he did not expect it to happen so early into his career as a manager.
The Sun reported today that Lampard has already agreed a three-year deal at Chelsea and will start work at Stamford Bridge next week, but Morris insisted that the deal is not yet complete and is hopeful that he will decide to remain at Pride Park.
“When Frank met me for the first time, we talked about this opportunity and even then we knew at some stage this was going to happen [him being offered the Chelsea job], we just didn’t know when,” Morris told talkSPORT.
“So we talked about that and we both probably thought it would be some way off and, let’s face it, right now it’s still not a done deal.
“Let’s be blunt, as far as I’m concerned I’m hoping this guy is going to manage us next season. I’m not giving up hope on that at the moment.
“But you’d have to say at some point it will happen – whether it’s now or some point in the future.
“I have no regrets about Frank, whether he stays or goes. If he stays, fantastic, we’ll be in better shape next season than we were in this one for all sorts of reasons – the learning curve, the style of play being established etc.”
The Verdict
Lampard did a fantastic job with Derby last season and he no doubt will become the manager of Chelsea one day, although it seems as though it will happen a lot sooner than any of us expected.
Now that Lampard has been given permission to speak to Chelsea, I think it's only a matter of time before he becomes the next manager at Stamford Bridge, despite what Morris says.
I'm not convinced that Lampard is experienced enough to manage a club like Chelsea at this stage of his career, although I completely understand why he would take the job, given his personal connection to the club.