Lampard: Gone, but still a role to play

Jose Mourinho has spoken of how Frank Lampard will one day return to Chelsea in “any way he wants.”

Lampard left the club on a free transfer this summer after his contract expired at the club, but Mourinho has said the midfielder could become his assistant in the future.

A Chelsea legend and the club’s all time top scorer on 211 goals, Mourinho has spoken about how the door at Stamford Bridge is always open for a return. Lampard is a fine representative of the club’s image and has embraced the club’s values since his arrival from West Ham.

Adored by the Chelsea faithful, it has been hard for fans, staff and team mates to see such a figure leave the dressing room.

“You can’t imagine how difficult it was for him to leave,” said Mourinho in a recent interview. “But at the same time I can feel some happiness in the process because for sure he comes back to Chelsea one day. For sure.”

“He can come back the way he wants. Mr Abramovich has left the door completely open for him on the understanding he can do anything he wants at the club.”

“He can try things, feel where he is better suited, we can feel as a club where he gives us more, but he can come back when he wants and, to repeat Mr Abramovich’s words, the way he wants.”

“He can be a coach, he can start at the academy, he can start being my assistant at the same time as he is doing his coaching badges, or he can start in a different role”, Mourinho added.

A return to Chelsea seems to be written in the future for Lampard and it will be interesting to see how he returns to the club.

Vice captain of the club under the many mangers that have been in charge, it is clear that Lampard has the leadership qualities needed to be a coach or assistant, twinned with his years of playing top flight football at the club.

A coaching role is likely for Lampard in the youth set up to gain management experience for, if he feels he is ready, a more advanced role, possibly as Mourinho has suggested, as his number two. A replication, almost, of Ryan Giggs at Manchester United, who was recently given a management role after his years of experience at the club.

Another possible avenue to go down is to become the club ambassador. “Super Frank” represents the club’s values and morals and would be a perfect role model given the things he has done at Chelsea.

This a route similar to the role Javier Zanetti has taken up at Inter Milan as sporting director of the blue half of Milan.

But a return to London is some way in the future, as Lampard embarks on the latest chapter in his playing career. Promising to never play for another Premier League club, it seems a journey abroad is what the English international faces after the World Cup.

Chelsea News