Chelsea’s board grew frustrated with Frank Lampard’s insistence on signing Delcan Rice from West Ham United.
Lampard has already been sacked as Chelsea manager today after the club’s recent collapse, which has left them ninth in the Premier League table.
Chelsea were operating under a transfer ban when Lampard was appointed in 2019 and he guided them to fourth in his first campaign, which was considered a success given the circumstances.
And Lampard made up for the lack of investment last summer window as Chelsea shelled out around £225m on new signings like Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell.
But, Lampard was far from content with Chelsea’s outlay and he repeatedly demanded the signing of former blues star Declan Rice from rivals West Ham.
West Ham are realistic about their prospects of keeping the midfielder in the long-term but they wanted around £80m for his signature last summer, which Lampard felt was good value.
But, according to the Athletic, Chelsea’s board were uncomfortable with splashing out such a huge amount of money on a player that they deemed not good enough only five years ago.
It was also felt that the club were well stocked in defensive midfield and that other areas of the team needed more urgent investment. But, Lampard continued to push for Rice’s signing and expressed on a number of occasions his desire to sign the player at any cost.
However, it’s clear that the club’s chiefs didn’t agree with Lampard over Rice and he was angered further when players like Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso and Emerson remained instead of being sold.
The tension between Lampard and those above him grew further as he requested the signing of Rice again before the January window opened.
