Chelsea set to replace Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel is in line to take over at Chelsea with Frank Lampard expected to lose his job, the PA news agency understands.

A hat-trick from Tammy Abraham helped the Blues progress into the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Luton.

But it looks unlikely to save Lampard’s job, with owner Roman Abramovich ready to make a change.

Chelsea’s record goalscorer signed a three-year deal in the summer of 2019 and in spite of a transfer ban, led them to the FA Cup final and a fourth-place finish in his first managerial campaign at Stamford Bridge.

With cash to spend ahead of this season, the arrivals of Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner have failed to translate into improved results and they are ninth in the Premier League at the halfway point.

The Blues have lost six times already in the division, with five of them during their last eight matches and the scrutiny on the former midfielder increased even more following the comprehensive loss at Leicester.

The man being linked with the Chelsea top job is German Tuchel.

Tuchel only became available a month ago when he left Paris St Germain, less than five months after taking them to the Champions League final, which they lost to Bayern Munich.

The 47-year-old won back-to-back league titles with PSG, but that was not enough to satisfy the club’s ambitious owners who replaced him with Mauricio Pochettino.

Prior to PSG, Tuchel impressed at Borussia Dortmund, having started his managerial career with Augsburg and then Mainz.

The growing attention on Lampard and Chelsea’s progress provoked a strong reaction from the former England midfielder when he faced the media ahead of the clash with Luton, and he hit out at what he perceived as a lack of objectivity across some recent reporting on the club.

Asked when his expensively-assembled new squad could be expected to gel fully, he replied: “Well, what marker are you putting on that?

“I’m not going to sit here and talk about next season, it would be a nonsense for any manager in a job in the Premier League to talk about next season because you can only talk about what’s in front of you.

“What’s the marker on the time to get someone playing like Eden Hazard did at the prime of his career? We’re aiming to be the best we can, this season.”

Lampard had earlier in the press conference insisted he blocks out the noise on his future, adding: “I don’t listen to it. It’s only everywhere if you want to scroll through social media or something, but I don’t do that.

“I’m not stupid, I know the pressures that come with managing a top football club, but I just do my job, it doesn’t matter to me.

“The pressure is fine, you’re obviously happier when you’re winning games. I was obviously happier in October and November than now. For me, I just have to get on with the job.”