FRANK LAMPARD believes his Chelsea kids can challenge for the Premier League title in the future.
And the likes of teen sensation Billy Gilmour will have a huge part to play in that push to dominate English football.
But the Blues boss admitted he would be a fool to say his team could topple Liverpool and Manchester City any time soon.
Lampard’s side sit fourth in the table — not bad considering it is the manager’s first season in charge and the club were under a transfer embargo until January.
This has sparked hopes that it is only a matter of time before the Premier League crown returns to Stamford Bridge.
But Lampard said: “I don’t want to jump the gun because what Liverpool and Manchester City have done in the last two or three seasons is very clear.
“I think I would be a bit of a fool to make a claim we could bridge that gap very quickly.
“There has been a lot of hard work at those clubs in terms of recruitment of top players, of great coaches and of players working to improve themselves.
“We have to be part of that process. We can’t copy it but we have to look at it.
“Now we have good young players and experienced players who have helped them this year.
“But we know there are little areas within the squad to improve. Some of it we have on the ground already and some of it we may look to recruit going forward.
“This period now, and what’s going on in the world, has made it very difficult to plan too much as we don’t know how it will look in weeks or months.
“So we have different versions of plans going forward and how it looks depending on what happens. Going into this break I certainly felt we were moving in the right direction.
“With potentially bringing in some players in key areas we think could help us bridge that gap, I have a strong belief we can challenge for titles in the future.”
GILMOUR OFF THE LEASH
Former Chelsea and England boss Glenn Hoddle told SunSport he backed Lampard to lead the Blues to title glory provided he was allowed to buy and pick his own players.
And Gilmour could be key to that, despite Lampard admitting he held the Scottish 18-year-old back for too long.
Gilmour impressed in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Liverpool and 4-0 Premier League rout of Everton in Chelsea’s last two matches before coronavirus struck.
And Lampard hinted he will play him more when football eventually resumes.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Football Show, he said: “People thought I just threw him in against Liverpool to give him a chance but he probably deserved to play a bit earlier given how he was training.
“That was me being a bit conservative with him.
“Then the minute he got in there he showed the replication of that, doing the passing drills right, being the brightest player.
“He went and did it against Liverpool, the best team in the country.
“He has now set a benchmark and has got to try, when he comes back, to show he can have the career he started to show he can.”
Chelsea have confirmed former player and manager Gianluca Vialli, 55, has fully recovered from cancer.
The Blues tweeted about the Italian: “Gianluca Vialli has been given the all-clear following a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Amazing news.”
