'Lampard must meet expectations or he’ll be out of Chelsea'

Matching Roman Abramovich’s expectations will be crucial for Frank Lampard or he’ll risk losing his role as Chelsea manager, says Craig Burley.

Lampard has enjoyed an elaborate summer of spending on new signings as Chelsea capitalize on being active in the transfer market once more after FIFA’s two-window ban.

Timo Werner (€53m), Ben Chilwell (€50.2m), and Hakim Ziyech (€40m) have arrived on a combined €143.2m. The recently signed Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva, meanwhile, joined on free transfers.

Although it appears that Chelsea’s business isn’t complete yet as Kai Havertz remains on their radar and the club may still sign a replacement for first-choice keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

But while welcoming all these new talents is always an exciting prospect for any manager, the pressure inevitably grows on their shoulders. Such investments requiere immediate results to justify. Therefore, Burley feels Lampard must deliver on Abramovich’s expectations.

The former Blues midfielder told ESPN on Lampard: “He’ll have to [live up to the expectations] or he’ll be out

“He’s adored by the Chelsea fans because of his hugely successful time there but Abramovich is not running a sentimental ship, and he’s backed him.

“Frank Lampard now knows he’s going to have to prove his worth. I think we saw enough last year in terms of the way his team played that there is a lot of hope there.

“I think there are concerns about the way his team defended at times and that’s something that he’s going to have to sort out, but the thing is, Abramovich and the ownership will expect him to be in the title shake-up.

“The very least they will expect, if they are out of the title running during the season, is that – and I’ve talked about this a lot.

“The gap that Chelsea and Man United had to Liverpool was over 30 points – the very least that he can show if he’s out of the title race next season is that that gap has been narrowed considerably.

“He cannot afford to finish in fourth spot next year, 33 points or 32 points off the top boys, that’s not going to cut it. So as long as there’s progress there, I think he’ll get some time, and that’s where the pressure’s going to be.”

Lampard is the 12th different manager Abramovich has employed since taking over Chelsea in 2003.