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Frank Lampard has been sacked as Chelsea manager after a poor run of form which has left the Blues sitting ninth in the Premier League table.
While it’s obvious that recent results have been the main factor that led to Monday’s announcement, it’s understood that a number of issues behind the scenes also contributed.
According to a report from The Athletic, a deterioration in Lampard’s relationship with Marina Granovskaia and complaints from players about a lack of tactical instruction played a part.
But unexpectedly, it’s claimed that Lampard’s desire to sign Declan Rice from West Ham was an additional reason.
The Blues were strongly linked with the 22-year-old English midfielder last summer.
Fees of £50million-£80million were reported to be the Hammers’ asking price and ultimately no deal was done.
It’s said that Lampard again pushed for the club to sign Rice this month, however these appeals fell on deaf ears.
A source is quoted by The Athletic as saying back in December: “He needs to stop pushing for Rice or he’ll lose his job.
“The hierarchy are very wary about the potential embarrassment of buying back an academy reject at huge expense.”
Rice previously played in the Chelsea youth setup for eight years, but was released at the age of 14 and joined West Ham.
Another interesting point of contention was reportedly Lampard’s treatment of record signing goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
It’s claimed that this dispute came to a climax during the last transfer window, when the manager put in a request for the club to sign a new stopper.
Edouard Mendy was brought in as a result, though it was suggested Lampard should have done more to ‘put his arm around Kepa’ and build his confidence.
Granovskaia and Petr Cech are said to have been the ones who took this role with Kepa and, although Lampard’s relationship with Kepa did improve, it was too little, too late once Mendy arrived.
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