‘Amazing’ – Frank Lampard hails Chelsea star he likens to club legends

Chelsea great Frank Lampard believes Moises Caicedo could soon belong in the same breath as N’Golo Kante and Claude Makelele.

Caicedo looks to have found his feet two years after signing for the Blues from Brighton for an eye-watering £115million in August 2023.

The Ecuadorean capped off his latest appearance for Chelsea with a thunderous strike from range during their 2-1 win over Liverpool last Saturday.

Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Lampard heaped praise on Caicedo and his ability to not only do the dirty defensive work but have a knack for scoring goals.

What is Lampard’s verdict on Caicedo?

“They (Kante and Makelele) were both amazing,” Lampard said.

“I played with Maka obviously and he was a different type to N’Golo, because N’Golo could really get around, whereas Maka basically sat in front a lot.

“But I see because of the style of play, he (Caicedo) can do the Makelele break-up stuff really, really well, close down space really quickly.

“Now he’s shown last season and this, that he’s got the sort of Kante bits in his game because N’Golo could do that, could arrive at the edge of the box and score.”

Lampard added the comparison of Caicedo and his legendary midfield predecessors was a ‘fair’ one but laid down the challenge for the 23-year-old to continue his remarkable trajectory.

“What he’s got to do now is just turn out consistently for the next season and hopefully try and win things with Chelsea,” Lampard said.

“It (the comparison) makes sense, he’s doing really well.”

How did Kante and Makelele perform at Chelsea?

Although Caicedo may be the defensive midfield darling of the current Chelsea crop having scored three goals from seven league games this term, he has a way to go if he is to emulate the likes of Makelele and Kante.

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Makelele arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2003 and made an almost immediate impact as he helped Chelsea to a second-place finish in the Premier League and a run to the Champions League semi-finals.

The tough-tackling Frenchman went one better the following season as the Blues lifted the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

Such was Makelele’s form, he was named in FIFPro’s World XI in 2005 thanks to his no-fuss displays protecting Chelsea’s star-studded defence.

The curtain was brought down on Makelele’s Chelsea career in the summer of 2008 as he joined Paris Saint-Germain.

Kante was signed by the Blues after his breakout season in which he inspired Leicester City to the most improbable of Premier League titles in 2016.

The pint-sized midfielder went on to make a grand total of 269 appearances for the Blues and scored 13 goals, 11 of which came in the Premier League.

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talkSPORT

Caicedo continues to grow into his role as Chelsea’s star all-round midfielder[/caption]

Such was Kante’s brilliance at the base of Chelsea’s midfield, he was named the Premier League’s player of the season, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the Football Writers Association’s Footballer of the Year for the 2016/17 season.

He even earned the accolade of the Champions League Midfielder of the Season when the Blues stunned Manchester City to become kings of Europe for the second time in May 2021.

Despite Makelele and Kante’s lengthy list of achievements, they pale in comparison to Lampard’s.

Lampard enjoyed 13 trophy-laden seasons at Stamford Bridge, where he made 648 appearances across all competitions and scored a staggering 211 goals.

The 47-year-old also holds the record for the most goals by a midfielder in Premier League history with a tally of 177.

Thanks to his freakish exploits for the Blues as his stints with West Ham United and Manchester City, Lampard was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.

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