Frank Lampard has insisted he would still sign for Chelsea as he claimed: “Form is temporary, class is permanent.”
And the interim manager said new signings will have the chance to join at the start of the club’s bid to return to the top of the table next season.
At the end of a disastrous campaign, 11th-placed Chelsea have four games left that are only big for the other clubs. Relegation-fighting Forest visit Stamford Bridge today (sat) before visits to both Manchester clubs and then a final-day fixture with Newcastle.
The best the Blues can hope for is overtaking West London rivals Fulham or Brentford to finish in the top half.
The new owners have spent £600m in the last two windows but the squad needs more work this summer with Mauricio Pochettino set to take over. Napoli’s South Korean centre-back Kim Min-Jae is among the targets.
And Lampard, who won 12 trophies as a player at Stamford Bridge after joining from West Ham in 2001, said: “I would absolutely sign for Chelsea. I signed for Chelsea when we were a top six or eight team and little did I know but 13 years later when I left I would come out with medals and trophies all over the place because the club had moved forward.
“I saw it grow from that club to the most successful club in the modern era of the Premier League at that time. There are a lot of great things about this club. The old saying that form in temporary class is permanent is quite a good saying in football. This is always going to be a successful football club. I would say that obviously because of my connection to the club but I absolutely believe it.”
The only way is up for any new signings and the club next season as they trail leaders Manchester City by a staggering 40 points.
“I can see fantastic intentions to take this club forward,” Lampard added. And it is nice to be part of the process. You are part of the journey. I think that is an enticing thing as well, rather than being parachuted into something up and running and successful.”
Lampard won his first game of his caretaker spell at Bournemouth last week and his low-key celebration involved “a couple of drinks” and watching Match of the Day on Saturday night and Sunday morning. “I haven’t watched it every week,” he smiled.
With left-backs Ben Chillwell and Marc Cucurella still out injured, Lampard said Chelsea need Lewis Hall and the teenage defender will miss the U20 World Cup in Argentina starting on May 20. “It doesn’t make sense clashing with the end of our season,” Lampard said.
