“It is a huge honor for me to represent Everton and work for such a big football club with such traditions. I felt the passion and ambition of the management and the owner. I hope they felt my ambitions too,” Lampard said in the first interview. Farhad Moshiri, the boss of Everton football club, supported him: “I am very glad that Frank joined us. He is a wonderful person both on and off the field. Football is in his blood.
Lampard was out of work for a year
He could end up at Aston Villa, Crystal Palace or Norwich. Chelsea fired Lampard on January 25, 2021 – the Londoners managed to win the Champions League, and Lampard never found a new club. On January 31, 2022, he ended up at Everton.
During this period, he had several offers – from Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Norwich. Palace were the first to contact the ex-Chelsea coach: the Londoners were looking for a replacement for Roy Hodgson, who suspended his career at the end of the football season (although he had already returned to save Watford).
The parties came to an agreement, but at the end of May, Lampard abruptly dropped out of the race. According to British media, he himself turned down the vacancy when he assessed the Palace squad and realized that in the summer many important football players would leave the team after the expiration of contracts, and a restructuring was necessary. Therefore, Crystal Palace switched to Patrick Vieira.
In November, Aston Villa sacked Dean Smith (and John Terry along with him) – Lampard was among the candidates, but also had strong doubts about the project. It’s funny who the club chose in the end – Lampard was overtaken by another legendary football midfielder, Steven Gerrard.
Frank impressed the Everton bosses
He insisted on the transfers of Alli and Van De Beek. Everything worked out at Everton – the interview was the key factor, which Moshiri even emphasized in the first interview after the appointment of a coach: “He impressed us incredibly throughout the entire interview process. We stand ready to fully support him as he will give the football team an immediate boost.”
The football club immediately took up two important transfers at once to strengthen the center of the field: discussing the final details on the loan of Donny Van De Beek from Man United and the signing of Dele Alli from Tottenham. According to insider Fabrizio Romano, it was Lampard who insisted on both deals.
Interestingly, the former Everton coach Rafa Benitez, who was fired a little earlier, complained about the lack of transfers. “I am convinced that we would have played better after the return of the injured and during transfers,” said the Spaniard after his resignation.
Sports director Marcel Brands, who brought in Benitez, was fired in December. The minimum task for Lampard is obvious, but surviving in the Premier League is clearly not the ceiling of the football club’s dreams.