In some ways you could argue that Frank Lampard’s job has been made easier with the transfer ban preventing the club from signing players last Summer.
It meant he had no choice but to play some of the younger players. A lot of them have excelled and he will rightfully take some credit for that, but there was a ready made excuse if things went wrong.
That’s now changed and Chelsea can register new signings again, so it will be interesting to see how he approaches things from now on. You would hope that he sticks with a similar philosophy, but now it will be the case that he’s playing them because he wants to – not because he has to.
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Tariq Lamptey made his senior debut when he came on against Arsenal recently, and he had a positive effect on the game. It’s maybe a bit much to say he changed the game, but his introduction did coincide with Chelsea coming from behind to grab the win.
He’s fairly small for a defender standing at only 5″3, but he’s so fast that it makes up for it. Any fans who were hoping to see more of him in the next few months should be pleased to hear that he’s about to pledge his long term future to the club:
Good news for Chelsea fans from @domfifield – Tariq Lamptey has agreed a new deal. More detail in @TheAthleticUK’s transfer tracker – which also writes about Man Utd’s interest in Bruno Fernandes – here: https://t.co/P3MqaAgiIr
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) January 11, 2020
He faces competition from Reece James and Cesar Azpilicueta to get into the team at right back so it’s unlikely he will play a lot of games, but it’s a clear sign that the club has faith in him for the future.