Coventry chief sends Frank Lampard message amid Chelsea expectation

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Evening Standard

·30 April 2026

Coventry chief sends Frank Lampard message amid Chelsea expectation

Chelsea legend has guided Coventry back into Premier League after 25 years away

In his first full season in charge, Lampard has guided the Sky Blues to the Championship title and a return to England’s top flight for the first time in a quarter of a century.

The former England international has a year left on the two-and-a-half-year contract he signed in November 2024, and King revealed that discussions will take place over Lampard’s future.

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The Chelsea legend has been linked with a return to the Stamford Bridge dugout, where he was the permanent head coach from 2019 to 2021. He returned to his former employers in a caretaker capacity in 2023 after Graham Potter’s dismissal.

King told BBC Sport last week that he expected there to be interest in Lampard’s services this summer as Coventry prepare for their Premier League return.

“Of course [I want to keep him,” King told The Football Boardroom Podcast.

“Frank knows how I think of him. He is a very skilled operator, and he has taken and developed our team to the Championship title with no parachute payments.

“Everybody wants what they want, and I will look at the situation, and I hope he will be with us into the next adventure that we have taken in the Premier League, because I think he enjoys working in that environment.”

“I think he has done a great job, and I am sure as we move forward, we will have conversations about the situation.”

On-loan Brighton goalkeeper Carl Rushworth has been a key part of Coventry’s title-winning campaign and has been shortlisted for the Championship Player of the Season.

Rushworth is keen to extend his stay at Coventry, with the club expected to make a bid to sign him permanently this summer.

Standard Sport understands that Lampard’s influence has been a major factor in determining Rushworth’s decision to stay at the Sky Blues.

But when asked about Rushworth’s future, King coyly admitted that the club had tried to sign the 24-year-old permanently before bringing him on loan without an option to buy.

“No, I did not have an option,” King continued.

“Tony [Bloom] and I had chats about the situation, but obviously, for me, it was more critical to get the goalkeeper than to waste my life fighting [for a permanent option].”

“I know the situation. There is nothing I can add to it at this point. I am just very happy that he had a great experience and got us into the Premier League.”