Everton have appointed Frank Lampard as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal to replace the sacked Rafael Benitez.

Lampard became the lead candidate on Friday after Everton held a final round of talks with their candidates and were officially offered the job on Saturday.

Former Swansea and Derby County manager Paul Clement will be Lampard’s assistant manager.

As well as the former Chelsea and Derby boss, The Toffees spoke to Vitor Pereira – who told exclusively Sky Sports News Wednesday that he wanted the job – plus Duncan Ferguson, who was placed in charge of the interim after Benitez’s departure.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri traveled to London to hold talks with the three candidates.

Lampard had been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in January 2021 with the club ninth in the Premier League.

Before his 18-month spell at Chelsea – which he led to an FA Cup final and a top four finish – Lampard spent a season at Derby, which ended in defeat to Aston Villa in the final dams.

Everton were looking for a successor to Benitez after he was sacked earlier this month following their 2-1 defeat at Norwich.

The former Liverpool manager had been in charge of Goodison Park for less than seven months.

Everton sit 16th in the Premier League and sit just four points above the relegation zone after winning one and drawing three of their last 14 games.

“Lampard has a huge job to do”

Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol speaking on Friday:

“Frank Lampard has all the potential to be a great manager of the future. I think if he accepts the job, if he becomes Everton’s next manager, it will be very exciting, but let’s not underestimate that he would have a huge job on his hands.

“He would have gone from the relative stability of Chelsea where Chelsea are owned by Roman Abramovich and run day-to-day by Marina Granovskaia – so it’s a very stable structure – and he would end up in a situation at Everton where there are different kinds of factions in charge of the club.

“The fans are very, very upset so he has an important job to do, but of course the first job he has is to make sure Everton stay in the Premier League because by talking to Everton supporters , they say, “Look, the way this season is going, there’s a real danger of it ending in relegation.”

“The other problem Frank Lampard has if he becomes Everton manager is that the transfer window is about to close. It closes on Monday, he has hardly any time to sign players.

“Everton need reinforcements, especially in midfield. Is there going to be time or has it been said that the players will arrive in the next 72 hours? So make no mistake, huge job for Frank Lampard if, as seems likely, he becomes Everton’s next manager.”

Rooney: I turned down Everton interview

On Friday, former Everton striker Wayne Rooney revealed he had refused to speak with the Toffees about their managerial vacancy because he wanted to stay on as Derby boss.

Rooney said: “Everton approached my agent and asked me to interview for the vacancy which I declined.

“I believe I’ll be a Premier League manager and I believe I’m 100 per cent ready for that, and if it’s with Everton one day in the future that would be absolutely brilliant. But I have a job here at doing in Derby County, which is important work for me.”

Asked if it was a tough decision not to speak to Everton, Rooney added: “Yeah of course I did. [think hard about it].

“They contacted my agent and my agent informed the administrators as well. Of course, it was a very difficult decision for me.”

Everton Q&A: Why are the fans protesting?

How are things at Everton?

Not good. The Toffees are 16th in the Premier League having picked up 19 points from 20 appearances, with the team starting 2022 with three Premier League defeats.

A 2-1 loss to beleaguered Norwich was the final nail in long-hated manager Benitez’s coffin and came just days after the club allowed France international Lucas Digne to join Aston Villa.

Fan favorite Duncan Ferguson took charge temporarily but failed to lead Everton to a well-deserved win, with Aston Villa winning 1-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday, with Digne providing the assist.

What is the current mood in the fanbase?

Fury fueled by a need for change. Ahead of Saturday’s game, a plane flew over Goodison Park calling for the departure of longtime chairman Bill Kenwright, with the banner reading “22 years of failure, Bill. It’s time to go”.

There was more anger after the final whistle as around 150 fans remained to protest, chanting “Sack the board”, “Bill Kenwright, out of our club” and “We want our club back”.

Frustration has continued to run since then, with a number of supporters gathering outside the Liver Building – where Everton’s trading offices are based – before another protest took place outside on Wednesday evening of Goodison.

What problems are there at the club?

Everton have no manager, director of football, head of recruitment or head of scouting, and few trust those at the top of the club to make the right decisions and improve things.

The club has been owned by Farhad Moshiri since 2016 and the Iranian businessman certainly cannot be blamed for his financial backing, having already spent over half a billion pounds on transfers since his £200m takeover in 2016.

Last week he committed an extra £100m to the club after increasing his stake to 94 per cent, but he still made the wrong decisions. On Wednesday, fans voiced their objections to potential new manager Vitor Pereira, Kia agent Joorabchian – who reportedly advised Moshiri – and Kenwright.

Everton’s next matches

February 5: Brentford (H) – FA Cup

February 8: Newcastle (A) – Premier League

12 February : Leeds (H) – Premier League

February 19: Southampton (A) – Premier League

February 26: Manchester City (M) – Premier League, live on Sky Sports

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