Everton manager Frank Lampard is using his contacts to try to improve his squad at Goodison Park, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.
Lampard has been at Everton for less than five months, but he is already looking to be proactive in the transfer market after narrowly avoiding relegation with the Toffees last term.
Who have Everton been linked with?
Everton have been linked with Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour, who have a combined valuation of £48m according to CIES, by The Telegraph, who are both currently on Chelsea's books, a club that Lampard managed between July 2019 and January 2021.
Lampard is particularly keen on Gallagher after his impressive 2021/22 campaign at Crystal Palace, but the Blues may decide to keep him and reintegrate him into their own squad.
Meanwhile, Lampard gave Gilmour his Premier League debut, and showed plenty of faith in the youngster while he was at Stamford Bridge.
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What has Brown said about Lampard?
Brown thinks Everton turned to Lampard as they felt that he would be able to use his contacts to strengthen the team in the summer transfer window.
When asked whether he felt that Lampard is genuinely interested in the likes of Gallagher and Gilmour, Brown told GIVEMESPORT: “Absolutely. I think one of the reasons he was given the job was because Everton knew that he has those kind of contacts in the game, and he can pull a few strings in those sorts of areas. For a club that’s definitely looking at loans, and that sort of end of the market, those would both be very wise targets.”
Has Lampard used his contacts before at previous clubs?
He certainly has.
When he took his first managerial job at Derby County in 2018, Lampard quickly reached out to Chelsea - the club that he played for from 2001 to 2014 - and brought in Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori on season-long loan deals.
The talented duo flourished under him to take Derby to the play-off final, and Mount is now a Champions League winner and an England regular, while Tomori has since gone on to win Serie A with AC Milan.
Getting Gallagher and Gilmour won't be easy as the pair may fancy their chances of breaking into Chelsea's first-team in 2022/23.
However, they may also look at what Lampard was able to do for Mount and Tomori's careers, and feel that moving to Merseyside could be the best thing for their development, at least in the short-term.
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