New Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said he will
work every hour possible to bring success to the club.
Lampard signed a three-year contract at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, replacing Maurizio Sarri who left after one season to join Juventus.
The club's record goalscorer was confirmed as head coach after
Chelsea agreed financial terms with Derby County, where Lampard was
in charge for one season, and said he was keen to get to work
quickly.
"I'm delighted to be here," Lampard told Chelsea's website. "The
club's been in my heart for a long time.
"But once we move beyond the emotion, what they get from me is a
young manager, a manager that's going to give everything, every hour
in the day to work hard to bring a team the fans can be proud of.
"If I can see a team that works hard, has high energy, really had
talent and the talent I know is in the squad already, then I'll be
happy."
Former midfielder Lampard spent 13 years with Chelsea, winning the
Champions League in 2012 along with several domestic honours, and is
the club's record scorer with 211 goals from 648 appearances.
He led Derby County to the Championship play-offs last year in his
debut season as a manager and his place in the club's history is
already assured, with his goals contributing to three Premier League
titles and four FA Cups.
However, the former England midfielder takes one of the most insecure
jobs in the Premier League.
The 12th manager in 16 years under the ownership of Roman Abramovich,
Lampard will be expected to restore Chelsea to the fight for the
Premier League title immediately.
After just one season at Derby, Lampard's experience is limited.
But Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said he had already shown he
is "one of the most talented young coaches in the game".
"It gives us great pleasure to welcome Frank back to Chelsea as head
coach," she said. "Frank possesses fantastic knowledge and
understanding of the club."
"After 13 years with us as a player, where he became a club legend
and our record goalscorer, we believe this is the perfect time for
him to return and are delighted he has done so.
"We will do everything we can to ensure he has all the support
required to be a huge success."
Lampard said he would try to produce the kind of attacking football
Chelsea fans had become used to over the past years.
"I want to remain competitive help the younger players, get them into
the squad and I'll work hard to try to bring success to the club.
"It's very easy to throw out words ... but for me, I can't wait to
get working and see the team on the training ground. I want them to
play good football, I want them to move the ball quickly.
Lampard said he had taken pieces from every manager he had played
under but would be his own man.
"I don't want to be a clone of any one manager, I'll try to take on
all the information good bad, and be myself."
"My absolute desire is to be here and work hard, I think I did that
on the pitch, tried to get the best out of myself, and that's what
I'll try to do as a manager."
Former Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris and Chris Jones, who worked
with Lampard at Derby, have also joined him at Stamford Bridge, while
Petr Cech, the club's former goalkeeper, was named as the club's
technical advisor in June.