Everton have now held further talks with Frank Lampard today as they consider appointing him as their new manager with Wayne Rooney seemingly out of the race.
That’s according to the Liverpool Echo, who report that Lampard spoke to the Everton hierarchy again on on Thursday.
Everton are now wanting to make a decision on their new manager by Friday, with Lampard suddenly the favourite.
It looks like Vitor Pereira is fading out of the race as things stand, following backlash from Everton fans earlier this week.
Lampard is now the favourite, with ‘growing support’ from club officials inside Everton.
Lampard has been out of work since losing his job as Chelsea boss back in January 2021 despite links with various jobs.
The 43-year-old won 44 of his 84 games in charge of Chelsea, boasting a 52.4% win rate before being replaced by Thomas Tuchel.
Before his move to Chelsea, Lampard spent a year in charge of Derby County and led them to the Championship play-off final. Sadly for the Rams, they lost to Aston Villa.
Lampard will be desperate to get back into management in the Premier League, and Everton can now offer that avenue.
An interesting note is that Lampard has previously admitted that his managerial style is heavily influenced by Carlo Ancelotti – the manager who left Everton last summer.
The report also suggested that Lampard’s former England teammate Wayne Rooney now appears to be out of the race.
It’s stated that talks with Rooney’s representatives resulted in Everton feeling that appointing Rooney in the middle of the season wasn’t ideal.
Everton were open to revisiting a move in the summer if they appointed a short-term manager, but that likely won’t be the case with Lampard.
Rooney is a boyhood Everton fan and enjoyed two spells with the club as a player. If Everton offered him the job, Rooney would surely jump at the chance.
Impressing in charge of Derby County despite their well-documented off-field problems, Rooney’s early managerial career is better than anybody could have predicted.
It may not be the right time for Rooney to head back to Everton and the job may now be Lampard’s to lose.
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