Lampard keen to manage Kante’s fitness next season
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has suggested the demands placed on N’Golo Kante will be revised after an injury-plagued season for the midfielder.
Kante has been a vital part of the team since joining from Leicester City in July 2016.
But the 29-year-old France international has missed large chunks of this term with a variety of niggling injuries and is now sidelined again with a hamstring problem.
Kante has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, with Chelsea having plenty of options in central areas.
Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Billy Gilmour, Ross Barkley and Jorginho have all featured this season and are younger than Kante.
Lampard has insisted he wants Kante to stay, but believes he might need to be managed carefully.
“We will see how we are pre-season,” Lampard said at a news conference on Friday.
“I am happy to look at managing a player like him, with the level he has reached in previous years in his career.
“That will be a very open conversation between myself and N’Golo and our strength and conditioning coach and our medical team.”
‘Domino effect hampers Kante’
Lampard is convinced the problems Kante have had stem from last summer.
He had a knee injury towards the end of last season and returned to action as quickly as possible, given his importance to the team.
“The big issue this season was that he came to pre-season injured and missed a massive part of the season,” the Blues boss added.
“We tried to quickly get him fit for the Super Cup and he was incredible in his performance [against Liverpool] but he was still struggling.
“That has been a domino effect for him. It’s time to take stock in this period.
“The injury he has got now is not really related to the serious nature of the knee injury he had coming into the season.
“It’s a small injury which is probably more down to the games played and the lack of pre-season.”
Havertz speculation continues
Meanwhile, Lampard was coy about the chances of Chelsea signing Kai Havertz.
The Germany winger continues to be linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
German media reports say he wants to leave Bayer Leverkusen and is interested in joining the Blues.
Lampard said: “It’s not something I want to broach at this time.
“I don’t want to give ifs, buts and maybes on any potential signing for the summer. The focus must be on the here and now.”
Abraham ‘needs to focus on playing’
Lampard was also reluctant to discuss Tammy Abraham’s future.
But he said talk about whether the striker, who has scored 16 goals this season, will sign an extended contract is not a concern while he still has three years to run on his current deal.
“He is not at a critical stage of his contract,” Lampard explained.
“He needs to focus on playing. We need to focus on finishing the season as well as we can and there will be plenty of time to sit down after that.”
Abraham scored his latest goal in the win over Palace, having not found the net in 10 his previous appearances, and Lampard said he hoped that would give the 22-year-old a boost.
“Tammy is a very positive lad. He trains well and is good around the group and that hasn’t changed,” Lampard said.
“But I know beyond that, there are sometimes feelings for a player, particularly for a goalscorer, if they are having a tough time in front of goal.
“We had a conversation before the Palace game so I was particularly delighted to see him break that against them.
“I hope there is an uplift, mentally, for him and that his confidence takes a boost. We will see.
“This being his Premier League breakthrough season at a club like Chelsea, it is a burden on the number nine shirt and being one of the main strikers is new to him this year but he has taken it on board really well.
“He will have learned a lot from the really good patch and the difficult patch
“The rest of the story is up to him how. It’s about how hard he works and how he takes himself forward now. That’s a good position for him to be in.”
