Derby County announced ex-Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard as their new manager on Thursday morning. The 39-year-old has signed a three-year deal at the Championship side and replaces Gary Rowett who left the club to join Stoke City a matter of days ago.
Lampard has said that he is “excited and nervous” about the challenge ahead of him. The Rams have been knocking on the door of the Premier League for the last couple of years but have always failed at the final hurdle. It will now be Lampard’s job to get them over the line.
One of Lampard’s first jobs will be sorting out his squad ahead of the upcoming campaign. The Rams have invested heavily in recent times which has resulted in a huge squad of players. It has been speculated that the club will have to cut their wage bill to avoid falling foul to Financial Fair Play rules this summer.
Here are five players that Frank Lampard could look to move on from the club to ensure that he has room to manoeuvre in the transfer market.
5Nick Blackman
The Rams signed Nick Blackman from Championship rivals Reading in January 2016 for a fee of around £3 million on a three-and-a-half-year deal. However, the move did not work out, and the 28-year-old made just 15 appearances for the club, failing to score in the process. He was sent out on a season-long loan to Maccabi Tel Aviv last summer, and it is unlikely that he has a future at the club under the management of Lampard.
