New Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has promised to grant outcasts such as Danny Drinkwater and Michy Batshuayi first-team opportunities if they impress during pre-season.
Lampard, who was announced as Maurizio Sarri’s successor on Thursday, insists nobody will be frozen out under the new regime.
Drinkwater spent the whole of last season in the wilderness, failing to make a single competitive appearance, while Batshuayi was loaned out to Valencia and Crystal Palace.
Both players are among those who have travelled to Dublin for a pre-season tour – and Lampard has urged them to show what they can do.
“Everybody who joins up tomorrow, and it will be staggered, will have the opportunity to show what they can do, their attitude, the way they play and train in pre-season onwards,” Lampard said when asked if someone like Drinkwater would get a chance to impress.
“I would be a fool to come here with ideas about ‘I’m going to freeze anybody out’. I want to get the best out of the squad.
“Everybody has an opportunity. I have no pre-conceived ideas about anybody, I have got good knowledge of the squad but I need to see them over the next month.”
Lampard will be operating under a transfer ban for the first two windows of his tenure, while the Blues recently lost star player Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
It is expected that while fringe players like Drinkwater and Batshuayi could be given fresh opportunities, Lampard will dip into the youth system to bolster his squad.
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