Frank Lampard responds to rumours he wants Chelsea forward at Coventry

Frank Lampard has distanced himself from rumours linking Coventry with a loan move for Chelsea’s Jesse Derry, insisting his focus remains on the club securing a return to the Premier League.

Coventry are within touching distance of sealing automatic promotion from the Championship, with a draw away to Blackburn Rovers enough to send Lampard’s men up on Friday night.

The Sky Blues have been dominant in the English second tier under Lampard and hold an imperious ten-point lead over second-placed Ipswich with three games remaining of the campaign.

But while promotion is all but confirmed, the club’s hierarchy recognise it will take a monumental effort to survive next season given the strength and financial might of those teams competing in the top flight.

With summer recruitment set to be key, Lampard is said to have identified Chelsea youngster Derry as a loan target in preparation for Coventry’s first appearance in the Premier League following a 25-year hiatus.

According to talkSPORT, Lampard plans to utilise his deep Stamford Bridge connections to get a temporary deal over the line for the highly rated 18-year-old forward, who can play on the left and through the middle.

Derry, the son of former QPR and Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun, made his senior Chelsea debut as a substitute in the side’s FA Cup victory over Hull City in February and has been tipped for a bright future with the Blues.

Asked about the rumours surrounding Derry and, more generally, how far along Coventry are in planning for next season, Lampard told reporters: ‘Not that far, if I’m honest, because of the jeopardy of the season.

‘I know it feels like in the last week or so things have felt more apparent but at the same time, me personally, I’ve been focusing on the job in hand.’

‘I’m not stupid. I know that this may happen and there’s a lot of work to do at the football club, whether it be things at the training ground to try and get the levels to what I know is the Premier League, because I’ve been there in different forms.

‘So those are all things that the football club has to really broach quickly, and we’re all aware of that.

‘But in terms of individual players, I’m not saying all those rumours [regarding Jesse Derry] are false, but they’re definitely not true as a fact.

‘And that’s one of the difficult things now in football, recruitment, because you’re as good as it, to a degree, because you need good players. And I think the club has done a really good job in terms of that at where we are in the Championship because you can see where we are in terms of what we spend etcetera.’

Lampard urged both supporters and those in the media not to give too much weight to rumours linking Coventry with potential incomings and outgoings at this stage.

‘It’s not a parachute team but we’ve had our way of doing it and that’s going to change this summer, if we get to where we want to get to because the level will go up,’ he added.

‘So there’s a lot of work to be done but the rumours that are whirling around now, I wouldn’t hold too much to them, with respect.’

Derry, who has scored eight times in 15 appearances for the England Under-19s, is tied into a contract with Chelsea until June 2029.

The teenager joined Chelsea on a four-year deal from Crystal Palace last summer and has played the vast majority of his football in Premier League 2 this season.

Facing the media prior to Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round victory win over Wrexham last month, Liam Rosenior revealed how Derry had ‘really impressed’ him with his application on the training ground.

‘Ryan [Kavuma-McQueen] and Jesse will travel with the group, so they will be part of the squad for Wrexham,’ Rosenior told reporters.

‘Jesse has really impressed me, Ryan’s impressed, but it’s not just those two. There have been a few that I’ve got to see in training when they’ve been brought up that I’m really happy with.

‘Reggie Watson has trained with us a few times, he’s really impressed me. It’s scary the age that he is. Young Mahdi [Nicoll-Jazuli] has been up a few times, he’s an outstanding talent as well.

‘There are some outstanding young players in the group. We just need to make sure we put them in at the right time and they get the experiences that they need to continue their development.’

A month earlier, Rio Ferdinand named Derry as one of four young English talents to keep an eye on in the Premier League, along with Rio Ngumoha, Max Dowman and JJ Gabriel.

‘You know the four, right now, if I was going to put money on and going these four, and you know what, it probably won’t even be these four that go and dominate the Premier League and do crazy things,’ the legendary ex-Manchester United defender said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel.

‘If you were going to put your money on four kids right now, in the Premier League to do their thing, based on what you’re seeing now, you’ve got Rio at Liverpool, you’ve got Max Dowman, you’ve got JJ Gabriel at Manchester United and Jesse Derry at Chelsea.

‘Jesse Derry, I know his dad, Shaun, he’s an ex-player, but I know the kid, wow, ridiculous, not only a talent, but an actual, like, as a kid who loves, loves the game.

‘You know, certain kids, they just love football and live and breathe. All the time, he makes that and the balls that you see, like, still, one of those kids.’

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