Frank Lampard feels that while a new contract is important for Tammy, there won’t be one if his form is not good enough.
“I think Tammy’s contract, we’re not at a critical level with it and I’ll leave that between him and the club to discuss that side of it,” Lampard said ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
“I don’t think it’s something that’s in his mind. It certainly shouldn’t be.
“What needs to be in his mind now is these games we have coming up and how much he can give us on the pitch, whether he’s coming on as sub or starting games.
“He has had a really good season. He hasn’t scored so much in the second half of the season and, as a young player, it’s always clear when you have those periods there’s only one way out of it.
Chelsea has been taking in several academy youngersters in the past year, since Frank Lampard joined as the head coach – the likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James, etc. And he’s right – although these youngsters have been given a chance to come to the first team, it’s harder now to sustain their position – where Tammy is now faltering.
“We get very excited with young talent and young players, and rightly so,” he said. “We’ve seen it this season and that’s why I try to stay pretty grounded when I get asked a lot about the youth, particularly earlier in the season.
“It’s really hard to come into this Premier League with the level that it’s at and sustain performances or be in the side all the time. There’s competition, games are hard.
“So whether its Tammy, whether it’s Mason, whether it’s Fikayo – they’ll all have periods of real input, playing regularly, and periods when they’re not so much.
“That’s something that we all have to be a bit calm with from the outside and expect that.
“The main thing for me, working behind the scenes with them all is they understand that and understand they will have those little moments and not lose confidence – I’m always there to support them on that one.
“But they also need to continue the work and never think they’ve cracked it. That’s a message for all the young players, not just mine.”
Lampard added: “I’ve been there, I know how hard it is to break through. But once you break through it’s possibly harder to sustain it and move on to the different level, which top players do – sustaining great performances for years.
“All these younger players here potentially have it. A lot of it is in their hands at this point.”
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