Matteo Kovacic says that he will “learn a lot” during his time at Chelsea because of Frank Lampard.

The Croatian midefielder, who spent last season on loan at Chelsea before making his move permanent before the start of the 2019/20 season, has largely impressed since his move away from Real Madrid.

He won the Europa League as a blue last season under Maurizio Sarri’s management and helped the club to a third-place finish in the Premier League.

But this season, he has stepped it up and is viewed by many as a contender for Chelsea’s player of the season.

Whereas last season he was in and out of the team, this season Kovacic is one of the first names on the teamsheet.

This upshot in form has coincided with the appointment of former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager, a man who Kovacic says has really helped him to grow as a player:

“This season, Frank Lampard came in and from the first moment our feeling has been very good,” Kovacic tells Chelsea’s 5th Stand app.

”I like the way he has been training us, really hard training but helping us always to improve.

“I like his character, the way he was speaking to the team and I think personally, I can learn a lot from him.

  • Lampard is “a great manager and a great person”

Frank Lampard’s appointment was always bound to help any midfielders in the squad, due to the fact that Lampard is seen by many as one of the greatest English midfielders of all time.

Lampard is Chelsea’s all time leading goalscorer, with 211 goals which is a remarkable statistic for a midfielder.

One thing Kovacic was criticised for during his time at Real Madrid was his lack of goals and involvement further up the pitch.

This is something that Lampard will certainly be trying to help him with:

“The things that I have perhaps been missing in my game, such as scoring goals and being more direct, are the things that Lampard was amazing at throughout his career.

“So I would say that he is a great manager, a great person and I think I will be able to learn a lot from him during my time here.”