Chelsea nice Frank Lampard believes Moises Caicedo may quickly belong in the identical breath as N’Golo Kante and Claude Makelele.
Caicedo appears to have discovered his ft two years after signing for the Blues from Brighton for an eye-watering £115million in August 2023.
The Ecuadorean capped off his newest look for Chelsea with a thunderous strike from vary throughout their 2-1 win over Liverpool final Saturday.
Talking on talkSPORT Drive, Lampard heaped reward on Caicedo and his skill to not solely do the soiled defensive work however have a knack for scoring objectives.
What’s Lampard’s verdict on Caicedo?
“They (Kante and Makelele) have been each wonderful,” Lampard mentioned.
“I performed with Maka clearly and he was a unique kind to N’Golo, as a result of N’Golo may actually get round, whereas Maka principally sat in entrance loads.
“However I see due to the fashion of play, he (Caicedo) can do the Makelele break-up stuff actually, rather well, shut down area actually shortly.
“Now he’s proven final season and this, that he’s obtained the form of Kante bits in his sport as a result of N’Golo may try this, may arrive on the fringe of the field and rating.”
Lampard added the comparability of Caicedo and his legendary midfield predecessors was a ‘honest’ one however laid down the problem for the 23-year-old to proceed his outstanding trajectory.
“What he’s obtained to do now’s simply end up persistently for the following season and hopefully attempt to win issues with Chelsea,” Lampard mentioned.
“It (the comparability) is sensible, he’s doing rather well.”
How did Kante and Makelele carry out at Chelsea?
Though Caicedo stands out as the defensive midfield darling of the present Chelsea crop having scored three objectives from seven league video games this time period, he has a approach to go if he’s to emulate the likes of Makelele and Kante.
Makelele arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summertime of 2003 and made an nearly quick impression as he helped Chelsea to a second-place end within the Premier League and a run to the Champions League semi-finals.
The tough-tackling Frenchman went one higher the next season because the Blues lifted the Premier League title and the FA Cup.
Such was Makelele’s type, he was named in FIFPro’s World XI in 2005 due to his no-fuss shows defending Chelsea’s star-studded defence.
The curtain was introduced down on Makelele’s Chelsea profession in the summertime of 2008 as he joined Paris Saint-Germain.
Kante was signed by the Blues after his breakout season during which he impressed Leicester Metropolis to the most unbelievable of Premier League titles in 2016.
The pint-sized midfielder went on to make a grand complete of 269 appearances for the Blues and scored 13 objectives, 11 of which got here within the Premier League.
talkSPORTCaicedo continues to develop into his function as Chelsea’s star all-round midfielder[/caption]
Such was Kante’s brilliance on the base of Chelsea’s midfield, he was named the Premier League’s participant of the season, the PFA Gamers’ Participant of the Yr and the Soccer Writers Affiliation’s Footballer of the Yr for the 2016/17 season.
He even earned the accolade of the Champions League Midfielder of the Season when the Blues surprised Manchester Metropolis to turn into kings of Europe for the second time in Might 2021.
Regardless of Makelele and Kante’s prolonged record of achievements, they pale compared to Lampard’s.
Lampard loved 13 trophy-laden seasons at Stamford Bridge, the place he made 648 appearances throughout all competitions and scored a staggering 211 objectives.
The 47-year-old additionally holds the report for essentially the most objectives by a midfielder in Premier League historical past with a tally of 177.
Due to his freakish exploits for the Blues as his stints with West Ham United and Manchester Metropolis, Lampard was inducted into the Premier League Corridor of Fame in 2021.
