Why Lampard – and what now for Derby

"What happens next? "There's no surprise here - we've reported in the last few weeks that we expected Frank Lampard to be approached and that we thought he would accept. "The only surprise perhaps is that it's taken Chelsea so long to do it; Maurizio Sarri left nine days ago and it's only on Tuesday that Chelsea have made that first approach. I would expect things to move pretty quickly from here - certainly before the end of this week, Lampard is expected to be in post as the new Chelsea manager. "What happens next? Well, Lampard and his representatives will be free to meet with Marina Granovskaia to discuss personal terms and details of his contract - including who he would want as his backroom staff. "This might be another blow to Derby because my understanding is that he would want to take his current assistant, Jody Morris, with him. Morris is well known to Chelsea as he was involved in their academy for a long time. It's a difficult one for Derby to stomach but they've expected it for a long time - it was made clear to me that they wouldn't stand in Lampard's way if Chelsea came calling. They know it would be almost impossible for him to turn down and are grateful for the work he's done. "But we should not forget how extraordinary this story is - Lampard has been a manager for 57 games in total and now he's going to take one of the biggest jobs in English football. "There is no real rush to get him on board though - that's why Chelsea have waited to make a formal approach - because Chelsea are working under a transfer ban imposed on them by FIFA for the next two transfer windows.