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Earlier today, Chelsea made the decision to sack Frank Lampard from his position as manager of the club. Lampard’s squad has scuffled all season to find its footing and work through the balance of integrating expensive acquisitions like Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him,” Roman Abramovich said. “He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers. On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”
Chelsea Football Club has today parted company with Head Coach Frank Lampard.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 25, 2021
Almost immediately, other reports started to break that former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel would be named the new manager of Chelsea:
Thomas Tuchel to replace Frank Lampard at Chelsea #cfc
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) January 25, 2021
Chelsea also allegedly wanted RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann, but that did not work out:
Thomas Tuchel is set to become the new Chelsea manager, confirmed. Frank Lampard will be officially sacked today - Tuchel has accepted the #CFC job and is expected to sign in the coming hours.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 25, 2021
RB Lepzig won’t let Nagelsmann go now + Allegri is considering other options/clubs. https://t.co/KODPcJAFF5
Sport Bild chief Christian Falk jumped in with his patented “True” report:
True ✅ Thomas Tuchel will be the next Manager of Chelsea. He was the favorite since his discharge at @PSG_inside (as reported). Nothing signed at the Moment but agreement in principle
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) January 25, 2021
As Falk states, there is no contract signed as of yet, but there is allegedly an “agreement” in place.
Tuchel’s hiring would certainly be interesting considering some of the current dynamic at Chelsea. Tuchel, of course, coached Christian Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund and is extremely familiar with both Werner and Havertz.
There were some hoping that Tuchel would be in line to replace Joachim Löw as manager for Germany, but that does not appear to be happening any time soon given this news.