Champions League

Frank Lampard: 'I will never lay claim to Chelsea Champions League win'

By Sammy Wynne | 14 June 2021

Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard admits that he will never try to lay claim to Chelsea's Champions League triumph last season, and is proud of the job he did.

Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has insisted that he will not lay claim to the Blues' Champions League triumph last season, and praised the "fantastic" work of Thomas Tuchel.

Lampard was dismissed of his duties from Stamford Bridge in January after 18 months at the helm, and guiding the side to Champions League qualification in his first season despite working under a transfer embargo.

Tuchel succeeded Lampard and went on to secure Chelsea's second Champions League trophy, thanks to Kai Havertz's 42nd-minute strike against Manchester City in Porto.

Speaking to the BBC, Lampard discussed his time as manager of Chelsea: "When you work towards something, you want to be there and be the man. I am never going to try and lay claim on that.

"I was part of the early foundation potentially, but Thomas did a fantastic job getting them there. I will say when I watched it, first I am a Chelsea person.

"The Chelsea fans are happy and the club deserves that, but secondly to see Mason Mount and Reece James perform at that level and people like Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva who came in in my time there makes me pretty proud. But it was a great achievement by them and they were very well managed."

The Englishman went on to say he was proud of the job he did at Stamford Bridge: "I am certainly not put off [becoming a manager again]. I love the job and the challenge of it. I had two great experiences at Derby and then at Chelsea and I would love to get back in but at the right time and at the right moment.

"Obviously you never want to lose a job, I was in pretty good company at Chelsea. But it happens, it is the brutal reality of football at the top level, but with reflection having been out for a few months now, it has been nice to actually spend some time out of game.

"I am pretty proud of the job I did, it was an honour to manage the club."

Lampard has been linked with the vacant Crystal Palace job, and is back in the frame after talks with Nuno Espirito Santo broke down.