Frank Lampard applies for vacant Derby County manager's job | OneFootball

Former Chelsea and Manchester City midfielder Frank Lampard has applied to be the new manager at Derby County.

According to the BBC, Lampard is one of 20 applicants for the role, which has been vacant since Gary Rowett left to join Stoke City last week.

The former England international brought his playing days to an end in February 2017 and has since received his UEFA A Licence coaching badge.

The 39-year-old has previously been linked to the Oxford United manager’s job, and is also understood to have held unsuccessful talks with Ipswich Town earlier this month.

Rams owner Mel Morris is expected to appoint the club’s new manager next week and Lampard is understood to be the front-runner for the job.

Other managers with Championship experience – such as Brentford boss Dean Smith, Alex Neil at Preston, Paul Cook at Wigan, Millwall’s Neil Harris and Mick McCarthy – are believed to be some of the alternate candidates.

Lampard recently spoke about his desire to follow his former England team-mate Steven Gerrard into management.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at Chelsea this year, gaining hours of experience. With the right opportunity and right timing for me, I’d really take a very close look at it,” he said.

“Because you do want to give back, show you can help try to develop players, and help them tactically and whether you can be a good man manager. And I certainly think Steven will make a success of it.

“The FA are working much more closely now with ex-players to try to get them into their coaching badges.

“I think we had some barren years when the help wasn’t there, and players went away from the game. But now I think they’re trying to help players go straight into getting their coaching badges.”

Derby have gone through four managers and three caretakers in the last three years and will be hoping to appoint somebody who can guide the club back to the Premier League for the first time since 2008.