Frank Lampard was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to watch Chelsea's goalless draw against Liverpool; Chelsea legend managed club for 18 months before being sacked in January 2021; former Barcelona and Spain boss Luis Enrique in London to hold Chelsea talks over permanent managerial vacancy
Thursday 6 April 2023 22:51, UK
Chelsea have appointed club legend Frank Lampard as caretaker manager until the end of the season.
Lampard, who was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to watch Chelsea's goalless draw against Liverpool just 48 hours after Graham Potter was sacked, will be in charge for Saturday's game at Wolves.
Nothing has been discussed about Lampard staying beyond the summer, with the process for identifying and appointing a full-time head coach continuing.
The 44-year-old, who is Chelsea's record goalscorer, was dismissed as head coach at Stamford Bridge in January 2021 following 18 months in the job. He then took charge at Everton, but was sacked in January after less than a year in the role.
Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali told the club's official website: "We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club.
"As we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the remainder of the season.
"We want to give ourselves every chance of success and Frank has all of the characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.
'We have an important game against Wolves on Saturday and then we will turn our attention to our Champions League quarter-final in Madrid next week.
"We are all going to give Frank our full backing as we aim to get the best possible outcome from all our remaining games."
A caretaker move for Lampard comes after Chelsea held talks in London with former Barcelona and Spain boss Luis Enrique over their permanent 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.
Sky in Germany are reporting that talks between Nagelsmann's representatives and Chelsea are ongoing and positive.
The 35-year-old, recently sacked by Bayern Munich, 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 with Mauricio Pochettino, Ruben Amorim, Oliver Glasner and Luciano Spalletti among those under discussion at Stamford Bridge.
However, Sky Sports News understands former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not a candidate, while Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is not believed to be on the list.
Sky Sports' Sam Blitz:
Interim managers were a common theme of Roman Abramovich's time at Chelsea and the first full season of the Todd Boehly reign has brought about another temporary solution in Frank Lampard.
Under Abramovich, every single interim boss Chelsea turned to landed a trophy during their time at the club:
Guus Hiddink - February to May 2009: Like Graham Potter, Luiz Felipe Scolari's time at Stamford Bridge ended after just seven months in charge. Abramovich turned to Russia manager Guus Hiddink as a temporary fix. The Dutchman only lost one game in charge in his first west London stint, taking the club to the Champions League semi-finals and winning the FA Cup, as well as solidifying the club's place in the top four.
Roberto di Matteo - March to May 2012: Andre Villas-Boas' time as the "second coming of Jose Mourinho" lasted just eight months at Chelsea, with club legend Di Matteo put in until the end of the season. Villas-Boas was sacked with Chelsea in fifth place and while the Italian interim failed to get the Blues into the top four, winning the FA Cup and the club's first ever Champions League title earned him a place in club folklore - and a permanent deal.
Rafael Benitez - November 2012 to May 2013: But it wouldn't last for Di Matteo, as failure to get out of the Champions League group stages cost him his job just months later. Rafael Benitez was controversially installed on a temporary basis, the Chelsea fans booing him regularly due to comments he made about the club while Liverpool manager. Tasked with boosting the form of £50m striker Fernando Torres, Benitez did exactly that as he earned Chelsea a Europa League title at the end of the season.
Guus Hiddink - again! - December 2015 to May 2015: Jose Mourinho's second stint at the club ended in being sacked just seven months after earning the Blues a Premier League title. This time, Hiddink was brought in with Chelsea sitting 16th in the table - with relegation a possibility upon his arrival. No trophy would greet the Dutchman at the end of the season, but Hiddink did manage to get Chelsea up to 10th place, one of his final games saw his Blues side deny Tottenham the title by handing it to Leicester City.
Frank Lampard - April to May 2023: This time, Lampard returns to the Stamford Bridge dugout having won trophies with three Chelsea interim managers during his playing days. The former Blues manager has a Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid coming up - he couldn't repeat history, could he?
Saturday: Wolves (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
Wednesday: Real Madrid (A), Champions League quarter-final, kick-off 8pm
April 15: Brighton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 18: Real Madrid (H), Champions League quarter-final, kick-off 8pm
April 26: Brentford (H) - Premier League, kick-off 7.45pm
April 29: Arsenal (A) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 6: Bournemouth (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Nottingham Forest (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Manchester City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Newcastle (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
TBA: Man Utd (A) - Premier League
