Fikayo Tomori could be allowed to head out on loan after a testing first half of the season spent in the shadows at Chelsea, during which he has made just four appearances in all competitions.
Newcastle United, Leeds United and Burnley have all been linked with a move for the 23-year-old centre-back since the transfer window reopened.
Having left Tomori out of the starting line-up for the FA Cup third-round tie against League Two Morecambe, Frank Lampard explained that the possibility of a loan move was being explored, and had contributed to his decision.
He told football.london: “The situation with Fikayo is open at the moment. There is a possibility he could be going on loan to get games somewhere else.
“So that would have to be the solution for him and the club. That was part of my thinking of not starting him today.
“I gave him some minutes at the end but while we were looking at that I wanted to make sure it was the right thing for the club and for him and individually. So that’s why he didn’t start.”
Alongside Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tomori was part of the group of academy graduates who benefited from Chelsea’s transfer ban, encouraging Lampard to put his faith in young players.
Tomori played 22 times for the Blues last season, scoring with a spectacular long-range shot against Wolverhampton Wanderers and earning his first senior England cap.
Kurt Zouma and the experienced Thiago Silva have been Lampard’s first-choice centre-back pairing for much of the season, with Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen also ahead of Tomori in the pecking order.
Recent defensive injuries had caused Lampard to reconsider loaning out Tomori but it now seems that he will be made available after all, with Newcastle believed to be heading the queue for his services.
