Oyinlola Awonuga Balogun (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion and Sports Desk)
Chelsea are set to sack Frank Lampard with the former Borussia Dortmund and PSG manager Thomas Tuchel to replace the former Chelsea player at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard was appointed as manager in July 2019 and spent more than £200m last summer on players including Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. His spell, however, will come to an end after a disappointing run of results left them off the pace in the fight to qualify for the Champions League.
A 14-game unbeaten run across two months from early October prompted talk of a title challenge but Chelsea’s fortunes have dipped markedly and a 2-0 defeat at Leicester on Tuesday was fresh evidence of their inability to beat the Premier League’s most accomplished sides.
Chelsea beat Luton 3-1 in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday but it was not enough to save Lampard’s job with qualification for the Champions League a key priority.
Chelsea are ninth in the league, five points behind fourth-placed Liverpool. Defeats by Arsenal on Boxing Day and Manchester City on 3 January led to serious doubts over Lampard’s future and the owner, Roman Abramovich, has now decided to act.
Tuchel, meanwhile, was sacked by PSG on Thursday, December 24 after two-and-a-half seasons in charge, winning the league twice and taking the team to the 2020 Champions League final where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich. Before that he managed Borussia Dortmund for two seasons, winning the Germany Cup in 2017, three days before being sacked after falling out final the board.
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