PREMIER LEAGUE: Former Paris Saint Germaine (PSG) head coach Thomas Tuchel is expected to be announced as new Chelsea head coach after the club parted ways with Frank Lampard today.
The 47-year-old German reportedly held talks with the club’s board over the weekend and is likely to be appointed in the next 24 hours.
Tuchel was sacked by the Ligue 1 champions on Christmas Eve after two and a half seasons in charge having taken them to last season’s Champions League final, where they lost to Bayern Munich
Chelsea’s first-team squad were told not to report to training as initially planned this morning and will instead convene this afternoon.
Lampard saw more than £200million invested in his squad at the beginning of the season but a recent slump in results has seen them fall to ninth in the Premier League table.
Chelsea have only beaten one team in the top half of the table – West Ham at home – and Lampard has been unable to get the best out of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz in particular.
There were growing concerns behind the scenes after the head coach publicly criticsed his players after the defeats to Arsenal and Manchester City in the past month and despite beating Luton Town in the FA Cup fourth round yesterday owner Roman Abramovich has signalled now is the time to act.
Tuchel’s likely appointment is being made with the form of Werner and Havertz in mind, while he has previously coached Thiago Silva at PSG.
Chelsea’s priority is finishing in the top four but they are five points behind Liverpool and 11 off leaders Manchester United at the midway point of the campaign.
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