What Will The Blues' Midfield Look Like Next Season?

While the Blues may need help from the transfer market this summer, one area they don't need help in is the midfield. Lampard has assembled a group of talented, exciting midfielders who all bring something different to the table.

As of now, there are seven quality midfielders in this Chelsea side, with Hakim Ziyech set to arrive on July 1st. Lampard's preferred formations this season have been 4-3-3, 3-4-3, and 4-2-3-1, which all employ two or three central midfielders. This begs the question: what will happen to the current players, and will they all be here next season?

Here's a look at all of the Blues' current midfield options, and what their future should look like:

Mateo Kovacic

After a largely uneventful debut season, Kovacic has completely turned it around this year. Capable of playing in a midfield pair, being the sole holding midfielder, or even playing a more attacking role, he is a very welcome sight for all Chelsea fans. 

The Croatian's close control, vision, and ability to beat players with such ease make him one of the best in the Premier League. In a season where there have been many breakout players, Kovacic has been the best of the best. 

More recently, he also added a few goals to his overall game, scoring long-range efforts against Valencia and Everton. But Kovacic could score no goals the entire season and still be one of Chelsea's best, that's the significance of his contribution to the midfield. 

He will very likely be the Chelsea Player of the Year, and at 26, he's just getting started. He has a contract until 2024, and expect him to be at Stamford Bridge at least until then.

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N'Golo Kante

From France's second division to Premier League champion and his club's Player of the Year within 12 months, Kante's story has been remarkable. He followed up his miraculous title-winning season with Leicester City by moving to Chelsea, where he also won the league and Player of the Year the following year. He also added to that by winning the World Cup with his country in 2018.

Kante is a great all-round player, but he is mainly known for one thing: his energy. He simply never stops running. His athleticism, stamina, speed, and dynamism are all commendable for a man who never seems to get tired.

The Frenchman is shy, but he has football's most infectious smile and is the essence of a team player. He does the dirty work on the pitch so others can shine.

Under Antonio Conte, his influence was clear as day; the team was just not the same without him. However, Maurizio Sarri began to play him out of position, as he felt Jorginho was better-suited to play the defensive-midfield role in his playing style. Kante still excelled, but he could no longer clean up as many messes as he was too far up the pitch, and Chelsea's defence suffered as a result.

Lampard has done a combination of both with the 29-year-old. He sometimes plays Kante in the defensive midfield in a midfield pair, but other times plays him in a more advanced role and gives him freedom to roam.

Kante suffered bad luck with injuries this season, but he is still Chelsea's best player, at least on paper. However, even though he can be a great player under Lampard's expansive attacking system, you get the sense he is only world-class in a system more suited to his defensive prowess.

If he is not in Lampard's plans for the future, this season would be the best time to sell. He is in his prime and has over three years remaining in his contract, so the Blues would get the best deal for him this year. 

Lampard, though, played many years with Claude Makelele at the tip of the Chelsea midfield, so he knows how important a player of Kante's ability is. It is very unlikely that he would choose to get rid of such a quality player, and he definitely shouldn't.

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Jorginho

Jorginho's Chelsea career has been a wild ride. He was signed to Chelsea along with manager Maurizio Sarri, whom he rejected Man City and Pep Guardiola in order to play with. Jorginho and Sarri were synonymous, and their styles seemed to work in harmony.

For the beginning of his first season, it worked perfectly. He was the metronome, keeping Chelsea ticking with his passes. He was dubbed the "pass master," breaking Premier League in-game passing records. 

However, as the season progressed, his opponents began to nullify his game, and his influence in the side waned. Sarri was getting stick from the Chelsea supporters, and Jorginho was right behind him. He began getting booed at Stamford Bridge, and it took a toll on him.

When Lampard took over, many thought that would be the end of Jorginho, but that was not the case. The 41-year-old continued to use him as a defensive-midfielder, but with a partner, and he began to thrive. 

Jorginho has had a solid season, and has served his club well, but he is not in the future of Chelsea. For all of his strengths, among those his leadership, he is very slow, painfully slow, and he is not defensively-sound.

He is only getting older, so his physical attributes will continue to decrease. If he stays at Chelsea, he will most likely not be a starter. The vice-captain must be willing to accept lower playtime, similar to what Cesc Fabregas did in his last season.

The difference is Fabregas was 32, and Jorginho is 28, still in his prime. Jorginho still has something to offer, but it is hard to justify him getting the start over some of the other midfield options. 

If he is willing to accept a reduced role, then he will be a great aid to the younger players. If not, then it may be time for him to move on. 

SELL

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

That infamous friendly against the New England Revolution in America may have put Loftus-Cheek's career on hold, but he will soon be back and, hopefully, better than ever. The 24-year-old has not kicked a ball for Chelsea since April of last year, when he tore his Achilles playing a game he never should have been in.

Since then, he has had to endure every part of the painstaking process of returning from a serious injury. He looked as if he was on the brink of a comeback, before the Coronavirus forced the league's suspension. Loftus-Cheek had played 90 minutes for the U23s on several occasions, and having gained match fitness it was only a matter of time before he played for the first team again. 

The good thing about the break from football for him is that when he returns, he will have completely overcome his injury. However, he will now have to gain match fitness all over again, having not played since last season.

"It is a bit frustrating because we had just gotten to the stage where Ruben was looking like he might be ready to play soon," Lampard lamented. "So that match fitness thing we've been looking for, we've kind of lost that." 

Lampard now must ease him into the lineup, as to not cause any aggravating of the injury or even a new injury. The young Englishman is desperate to return to playing, but he will now have to wait a little longer yet again.

Before his injury, Loftus-Cheek was finally breaking into the first team and establishing himself as a starter, with his dribbling, passing and shooting ability similar to that of Lampard himself. His physique also makes him very hard to shrug off the ball and makes him a very promising box-to-box midfielder.

Loftus-Cheek is the future of Chelsea, and he will undoubtedly stay at the club, as he seeks to be a Blues legend just like his manager.

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Ross Barkley

If Barkley's time with Chelsea had to be summed up in a word, it would be inconsistent. He has always shown flashes of who he is, and who he can become, but the problem is that they have been too few and far between. 

For the majority of this season, which has maybe been Barkley's best for Chelsea, he has been largely uninspiring. He seemed like he was trying too hard, taking people on and shooting from distance when a simple pass was a better option.

But then he also had games such as the FA Cup win over Liverpool, where he capped an impressive match with a brilliant run and finish for the second goal, and his two-assist match against Everton. 

The mystery that surrounds his future is that after every string of poor performances where we all think he definitely needs to leave, he puts in one estellar performance that makes us all reconsider. His quality is undeniable, but for some reason he just has not been able to keep it up for an extended period of time. 

Lampard cannot afford to have players he can't depend on in the team, especially with all the reliable midfielders in his arsenal, so this summer may finally be the time to offload Barkley, possibly with a buyback clause just in case.

SELL

Mason Mount

After a season of dazzling under Lampard at Derby County, when Lampard came home, so did Mason Mount. He started very brightly, scoring Chelsea's first Premier League goal and four in his first eight matches as Chelsea's new young core sought to dominate the league. 

His brilliant opening form did not last, and his performances wavered, as did most of the team's, which can be expected as a 21-year-old. Nonetheless, he has shown himself to be a hard-working, quality player, and there is a reason he continues to play even with his reduced goal tallies.

The more he plays, the more consistent he will get, and he is a top player who promises a lot more. His technique is flawless, and having spent his whole life playing for Chelsea, the supporters love him. 

Mason Mount is Chelsea through-and-through, and he's getting to live his dream at the moment. Hopefully, he becomes the legend he promises to be, and he is another who will undoubtedly be at the club next summer.

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Billy Gilmour

Out of the midfielders in and around the first team at Chelsea, the one we perhaps know the least about is Billy Gilmour. With that said, everything that the fans have seen, they've absolutely loved. 

Barring the six minutes he played in the 2-2 draw against Sheffield United, the league knew very little of Gilmour. Lampard's selection of the young Scot to start against European champions Liverpool in the FA Cup certainly raised a few eyebrows, but by the end of those 90 minutes, everything had changed.

The 18-year-old put in a world-class performance against the best team in the world, as Chelsea came out 2-0 winners on the night. Willian and Barkley were on the scoresheet, but all anyone could talk about after the game was this kid who just dominated the league's best midfield.

Gilmour did the simple things well on the night, keeping the ball moving and doing exactly what he needed to do. He was so impressive that he was given the Man of the Match award in his first-ever start for the Blues.

"He was incredible," Lampard said of the teenager's spirited performance. "It's easy to assess it as Billy the kid but I just assess it on the performance and he performed like a top-class player up against other top-class players."  

Naturally, the Blues boss started him the following match as well, against Everton. The best way to follow up such an impressive MOTM performance? With yet another impressive MOTM performance.

In his first two starts for Chelsea, he won two MOTM awards, which is more than some of his teammates have won in the entire season. The Everton game was the last before the league's suspension, so once football finally returns, Gilmour will hope to continue on his excellent recent form.

Gilmour may be a year or two off being a starter at Chelsea, but he is undeniably a major part of the Blues' future midfield. Expect to see him at Stamford Bridge for a long time to come.

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If these projections are correct, Chelsea will start the following season with six first-team midfielders: Kante, Kovacic, Mount, Gilmour, Loftus-Cheek, and Ziyech, not to mention Reece James and Andreas Christensen who can also play the holding midfield role if need be.

This group gives Lampard several different skill sets, builds, and physical attributes. More than that, it gives him a selection headache for every game.

This type of selection headache, where he must choose between so many quality midfielders for every game, is the best selection headache a manager can hope for. Led by Lampard, the Chelsea midfield can be a force for years to come, as they try to emulate their manager's success for their dream club.