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.
5 Nick 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.
4 George Thorne
Under the management of Steve McClaren in the 2013/14 campaign, George Thorne was arguably the Rams’ most influential player having been on loan from West Bromwich Albion at the time. He almost helped the club gain promotion to the top flight, agonisingly losing 1-0 to Queens Park Rangers in the play-off final at Wembley. However, ever since he made that move a permanent one the same summer, his time at the club has been plagued by injury meaning that he has struggled to reach the same heights. The Championship is an unforgiving league, and Thorne may be better off moving on.
3 Craig Bryson
Another player who has made a valued contribution for the Rams over the years is Craig Bryson. The 31-year-old midfielder has made over 200 appearances for the club since joining in 2011 from Kilmarnock. However, he did spend last season on loan at Cardiff City after falling out of favour at Pride Park. Lampard has said that he will give every player in the squad a chance in pre-season, but it could be time for Bryson to have a fresh start elsewhere.
2 Jacob Butterfield
Similarly to Bryson, Jacob Butterfield was also loaned out for the season to Sheffield Wednesday, in a deal which saw Sam Winnall move in the other direction, also on loan. The 27-year-old struggled to make an impact at Pride Park following his £5 million move from Huddersfield Town, and he endured another difficult campaign at Hillsborough with the Owls last season. He is likely to be on a significant wage at Derby and Lampard may want to move him on to free up those finances for any new signings he wants to bring in.
1 Chris Martin
One player who Lampard may want a look at this summer is 29-year-old striker Chris Martin. The striker has been at the club since joining in 2013 from Norwich City. Despite the fact he has been sent on loan to both Fulham and Reading in recent times, he has been prolific for the Rams in the past. He found the back of the net 20 times in the league in the 2013/14 campaign before scoring 18 the following season. This shows that he does have the ability to find the back of the net. However, Frank Lampard may want to bring his own players into the club, and Martin is said to be a high earner.
