Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich says he reluctantly decided to relieve Frank Lampard of his duties as manager.

The Blues have been in a difficult run of form and Abramovich said it was a very hard decision to make, considering he has a very good relationship with Lampard, but he felt a change at the top was required:

“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him. He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers.”

“On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”

It was originally felt that Lampard would be given at least a few games to turn things around but Abramovich is not generally one for patience. He has sacked 14 managers during his time as owner of the club.

Thomas Tuchel is expected to replace Lampard in the post. The 47-year-old has only been out of work for a number of weeks after his two and a half year spell at Paris Saint-Germain came to an end in December.

It’s likely that the German has been brought in to get the most out of two of Chelsea’s newest signings, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, who have struggled since arriving for big fees in the summer.