Lampard returns to Chelsea as caretaker manager

Lampard returns to Stamford Bridge to take the reins after the sacking of Graham Potter on Sunday, with the club reportedly meeting several other candidates in recent days as they look to their long-term appointment.

Just over two years after being sacked by previous owner Roman Abramovich as permanent Chelsea boss, and just over two months on from his dismissal by Everton, the 44-year-old is back in charge of a Premier League club.

Chelsea confirmed the news on their official website on Thursday, with Lampard's first game back being Saturday's trip to Wolves, followed by a Champions League quarter-final fuirst leg against Real Madrid.

Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said: "We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club.

"As we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the remainder of the season.

"We want to give ourselves every chance of success and Frank has all of the characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.

"We have an important game against Wolves on Saturday and then we will turn our attention to our Champions League quarter-final in Madrid next week. We are all going to give Frank our full backing as we aim to get the best possible outcome from all our remaining games."

Frank Lampard returns as Caretaker Manager until the end of the season.

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 6, 2023

The former Chelsea and Manchester City midfielder finished fourth in his one full season in charge of the Blues, and also reached the FA Cup final where they were beaten by Arsenal.

After replacing Rafael Benitez at Everton in January 2022, he just about managed to keep the Merseyside club in the Premier League, but their struggles carried over into the 2022-23 campaign.

Having played 20 games by the time Lampard was sacked just under a year later, they sat 19th on 15 points following a 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers West Ham, and had lost eight of their previous nine matches in all competitions.