Lampard looking to add Chelsea striker to Derby County rebuild — report

Derby County are looking to reduce and rebuild after last season’s failed attempt to gain promotion to the Premier League. With ownership looking to curtail the wage bill, new boss Frank Lampard has to replace several big and important names for next season.

One of those is last season’s leading scorer Matej Vydra (both for the team and the division), who’s closing in on his £11m transfer to Leeds United. While the rest of the club have jetted off to Tenerife, the 26-year-old Czech international has been left at home. Unlike Derby, Leeds are looking to splash the cash both in terms of coaching (Marcelo Bielsa the new man in charge) and in terms of players — even as Lewis Baker only ended up joining on loan, after hints of a permanent transfer.

So, Lampard might have to fill this goalscoring void on the cheap, especially as his current options, the likes of David Nugent, Cameron Jerome, and Chris Martin aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring. An ideal solution could be a loan, and what better place to take a loan from than Chelsea?

According to the Telegraph, young Tammy Abraham is one such possibility.

The 20-year-old spent all of last season at relegation-bound Swansea City, playing a fair amount but scoring only 5 times in 31 appearances (with 3 more strikes in the Cup competitions). While Derby would represent a drop back down in terms of level of competition, if it guarantees him minutes, it might not be the worst idea. Tammy lit up the Championship as a teenager with Bristol City two years ago, scoring 23 goals. If he’s not quite ready for the Chelsea first-team — and with the trio of Morata, Giroud, and Batshuayi all set to stay as of right now, there may be no room for him anyway — a little helping hand to Lampard could be a win-win situation.