Chelsea fighting to keep Tariq Lamptey as OGC Nice register interest — report

Tariq Lamptey is the latest hotness from the Chelsea Academy, and understandably so. The 19-year-old has found minutes in the senior team in recent times, despite the presence of the mercurial Reece James and the iconic Cesar Azpilicueta, which is an achievement in and of itself. While Frank Lampard certainly deserves his share of credit for slowly trying to integrate the youngster, the onus of the commendation that has come his way goes to Lamptey.

But success always gets noticed in any field of life, and football is no different. The youngster, whose contract expires at the end of the season, has already been linked with moves to PSG and Wolves, and now it appears that Ligue 1 side OGC Nice have joined the race. The ones with an extremely sharp memory will remember that Nice have been linked to Lamptey before as a part-exchange for another right back, Youcef Atal.

Lamptey’s talents are just beginning to receive the spotlight and it would be a big blow for Chelsea to lose him in the summer, especially for a paltry compensation fee. While Reece James appears to be the starting right back for the near future, we will need another one in the team with the ever-present Azpilicueta unlikely to be present a few years from now. Recent reports have indicated that Chelsea are working hard on a new contract with Lamptey; hopefully we can indeed find an agreement (even if he then has to head out on loan).