Frank Lampard returned to the club where he played for 13 seasons when he was confirmed as Chelsea manager yesterday, and admitted he faces the biggest challenge of his career after just one season in management with Derby County.
The club’s record goalscorer completed the final formalities at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening before being announced as Maurizio Sarri’s successor, and when asked at his unveiling whether this was his toughest task in football, replied in the affirmative before talking about the comparison with his bow as a player at Chelsea, stating:
“My playing career is done. When I started out in management one year ago, I was starting again. I always love a challenge. Coming here was a challenge as people were questioning on the radio, whether I could come here and play for £11mn. There are always marks or steps in your career where questions are asked of you, no matter who you are and as a player I really liked that. I liked a challenge and I’m getting that again and it is not a problem.
“I worked hard to be here. I don’t want credit for my playing career. I need to be judged for my time here. I feel that hunger to prove myself even more. I feel it even more. I felt it as a player and I think there is nothing better in football.”
Lampard also defended his lack of experience. “I presumed that question would come quite early and I would say I thought about it a lot, it is an obvious question because I’m one year in,” he said. “In my playing career I played under a number of fantastic managers and learned things along the way. I think I learned a lot in one year [at Derby] and I know a lot about this club. I believe in myself completely and I want to show I am ready to manage this club, whether I have had one year or 10 years’ experience.”
Lampard was pictured arriving back at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to sign a three-year deal worth around £4mn a season and to conduct interviews with in-house media before confirmation of his return was finalised. 
Derby County, whom Lampard took to the Championship play-off final, are understood to have received in excess of £4mn in compensation for their manager, who will be joined back in south-west London by his assistant, Jody Morris, and fitness coach, Chris Jones.
Chelsea, who lost Sarri to Juventus last month after a difficult year in charge, had been granted permission to open talks with their preferred target last week, with the Derby owner, Mel Morris, putting the subsequent delay in completing a deal down to the 41-year-old having been on holiday. Lampard is believed to have received assurances from Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, in the period since that he will be given time to make a proper mark back at a club operating under a transfer embargo that will potentially extend through to the end of next season.
Lampard will also have to deal without Eden Hazard, who has joined Real Madrid. He said: “We know about the transfer ban, we know Manchester City and Liverpool pulled away slightly last year. We have to be realistic about that but we shouldn’t stop trying. I think from the outside it seemed like something that was really important to Eden personally and the club respected that.
“I played with him and watched him from afar and he gave the club such pleasure. It is not one to dwell on now, he is gone and we wish him well. What is important is what we do. We have players in their own way who can be huge players for this club and part of my job will be to get that out of them.”
The embargo will severely restrict the club’s ambitions in the market. Though they have added Christian Pulisic, since his move from Borussia Dortmund was agreed in January, to last season’s squad and have converted Mateo Kovacic’s loan into a permanent move. 
A number of loanees have returned, however, and Lampard has already expressed an eagerness to tap into the potential of the club’s youth-team setup to bolster his options. His appointment is likely to be swiftly pursued by confirmation that Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi have signed new five-year deals at the club.
As well as roles for Morris and Jones, Lampard is expected to promote the highly regarded Joe Edwards, who has been working in the academy and the under-23 setup, and Eddie Newton to his backroom staff. The latter has more recently overseen the progress of the club’s battalion of loan players.
Lampard will take the skeleton squad who have already reported back for pre-season to Dublin today, with his first game in charge to be Wednesday’s friendly against Bohemians at Dalymount Park, before a second fixture against St Patrick’s Athletic three days later.
A squad further reinforced by first-team players returning after extended summer breaks will then travel to Japan for subsequent games against Kawasaki Frontale and Barcelona before the end of the month. His first Premier League game in charge will be at Manchester United on Sunday 11 August three days before Chelsea, as Europa League winners, compete in the European Super Cup against Liverpool in Istanbul.
Derby are expected to confirm the former Netherlands international Phillip Cocu as Lampard’s successor at Pride Park. The 48-year-old made an impressive transition from player to manager during his time in charge of PSV Eindhoven, and is a free agent after leaving the Turkish club Fenerbahce last October.