Lampard to sell Jorginho and Kepa as Chelsea boss plans to axe EIGHT flops after Bayern Munich drubbing - 7M sport

Lampard to sell Jorginho and Kepa as Chelsea boss plans to axe EIGHT flops after Bayern Munich drubbing



Posted Thursday, February 27, 2020 by Thesun.co.uk

Lampard to sell Jorginho and Kepa as Chelsea boss plans to axe EIGHT flops after Bayern Munich drubbing
Frank Lampard is set to axe up to eight players from Chelsea this summer Credit: Rex Features

FRANK LAMPARD knows the standard needed to compete with the best in Europe.

Now he wants Chelsea to back him with a squad capable of returning the club to former glories.

The 3-0 destruction to Bayern Munich was not just a hammer blow to the side’s Champions League hopes this season.

It was a public exposure of how far the Blues are off the top level. Bayern were cool, calm and clinical – everything Chelsea were not.

Yet the last person to be surprised at Tuesday night’s events at Stamford Bridge  was Lampard himself because deep down he knows the limitations of the group he has to work with.

As a player he understood what it takes to win domestic titles and reach the latter stages of the Champions League.

As a manager he knows some of his players are short of what is needed.

His post-match message was clear when he challenged his players to examine their own display against their direct opponent and ask themselves what they have to do to be able to reach that level.

Lampard admitted he “learnt a lot about my players” in the way they were outclassed and made it clear it was not just the youngsters he was talking about.

After almost eight months in charge, his mind is rapidly being made up on who has what it takes to survive a major cull this summer.

Among those now in danger of being eased out are England midfielder Ross Barkley, £72million goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and £50m midfielder Jorginho.

Also under the microscope in the final stages of the season are Kurt Zouma, Willian and Pedro as Lampard prepares to get tough with the established names.

And there is little doubt left-sided defenders Marcos Alonso, sent off for a stupid elbow against Bayern, and Emerson are not rated as good enough.

Whether the manager will be able to engineer a situation which will see so many players offloaded in one transfer window remains to be seen.

But he wants to radically change the  squad with at least another four signings following  the capture of £33m Ajax forward Hakim Ziyech.

Leicester and England left-back Ben Chilwell is rated highly, while a swap deal with Atletico Madrid for their keeper Jan Oblak would solve the Kepa problem.

And then there is the obvious interest in Jadon Sancho, who would be massively expensive at £100m-plus but would bring what is clearly missing right now at Chelsea – goals and assists from out wide.

When club legend Lampard was appointed manager last summer,  the levels of performance he was expected to deliver were made clear.

Lampard is now making it clear to the power-brokers at the Bridge that if they want to be competing at those levels then they are going to have to get busy this summer.

He is not content with slugging it out with Sheffield United, Tottenham, Manchester United and Wolves just to seal a fourth place finish in the Premier League.

Nor is he of the belief Chelsea should be a club happy just to make it out of the group stages of the Champions League. He wants more.

The levels he spoke of in the wake of the Bayern game were of being a squad capable of fighting it out with Liverpool and Manchester City to be the best team in England again.

To be challenging for Champions League glory once again as well.

It is those demands he is placing on the Chelsea board - including director Marina Granovskaia and his team-mate Petr Cech, technical and performance adviser - to sanction a massive investment in new players over the close season.

The manager is clear he is up for what is needed to bring glory back to the Bridge. Now to find up if the Chelsea board are just as keen.



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