Chelsea icon Frank Lampard almost ‘pulled his phone out’ to sort transfers after seeing state of Derby dressing room
FRANK LAMPARD has revealed the extent to which he had to get his hands dirty to bring in players at Derby.
The Chelsea legend was in charge at the Rams for a season before taking the reins at his beloved Blues.
Such was the state of the Derby squad in 2018 when Lampard met owner Mel Morris, he thought he was going to have to tap up some promising Chelsea youngsters “there and then”.
“When I went up to see Mel the first time after taking the job, we had all the players on the tactics board in the manager’s room,” Lampard told the All To Play For podcast.
“(Andreas) Weimann was there, a good quick player with an eye for goal, then Mel said he’s off to Bristol.
“Then (Matej) Vydra, one of the best players in the Championship the year before, Mel says he’s definitely going too.
“I looked at it and thought I need to get a couple of loans in as soon as possible and nearly took my phone out there and then!”
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The Chelsea connection eventually told as Lampard brought in the emerging Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori to inject some youth into his Derby side.
He added: “Mason Mount, Harry Wilson and Fikayo Tomori brought in a lot of energy and enthusiasm for us but I did also realise I underestimated the rest of the squad.
“The likes of Nugent, Keogh, Bryson and Johnson I found them all to be fantastic professionals and excellent players.”
One of Lampard’s former England team-mates Wayne Rooney is now at the Derby helm as they face further challenges.
The team have entered administration and been docked 12 points by the EFL, with club officials blaming Covid for ruining club finances.