Chelsea’s squad had woken up to a message informing them that morning training had been delayed until 2pm, but only learnt of Lampard’s departure after The Telegraph’s online report. Lampard was given the news in person by Marina Granovskaia, the Chelsea director, and chairman Bruce Buck in a meeting, and decided against heading straight to the club’s Cobham training ground to say his goodbyes to the players.

Assistant Jody Morris followed Lampard out of Chelsea, which left first-team coaches Joe Edwards and Anthony Barry to take training in the afternoon while the club finalised Tuchel’s arrival. Edwards and Barry, helped by technical performance adviser Petr Cech, will take charge of the team against Wolves if Tuchel is prevented from doing so, but the club are confident their new head coach will be in position for the game.

Abramovich’s decision to sack Lampard 18 months into his two-year contract, which had the option of a further 12 months, came amid growing concern over performances, results and Chelsea falling behind in the race for the top four.

Former Paris Saint-Germain coach Tuchel will be expected to challenge for a top-four position and Champions League qualification this season and will then be under pressure to turn Chelsea into winners and compete for top honours.

Having spent £220 million (about $390 million) on new players in the summer, Abramovich expected Chelsea to demonstrate that they are closing the gap on Liverpool and City but, at the halfway stage of the season, West Ham United are the only team in the top half of the table that Lampard’s team has beaten.

Lampard also had to manage unease within his large squad, with Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso and Jorginho, three players he wanted to offload, among those believed to have caused issues.

Tuchel was interested in signing both Rudiger and Jorginho at PSG, and it is expected the German will eventually get the best out of compatriots Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, who have both struggled since signing in the summer.

Abramovich took the unprecedented step of explaining his decision in Chelsea’s statement confirming Lampard’s exit. Abramovich said: “This was a very difficult decision for the club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him.

“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers. On behalf of everyone at the club, the board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as head coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.“

Lampard, in a statement, thanked Chelsea’s fans, Abramovich, the board and the players, and said: “I am disappointed not to have had the time this season to take the club forward and bring it to the next level.“

Tuchel won two Ligue 1 titles at PSG and reached the final of last season’s Champions League before being sacked last month after a fallout with the club’s hierarchy, something that also happened in his previous job at Borussia Dortmund.

Tuchel is expected to bring Arno Michels, who has worked with the 47-year-old since his days at Mainz, with him as an assistant.

In other English soccer news, Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele struck late goals as Tottenham survived an FA Cup scare to reach the fifth round with a 4-1 victory at Wycombe.

With 86 minutes on the clock and the score at 1-1 Spurs were struggling to put away the second-tier Championship’s bottom club but the battling hosts finally caved in.

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Winks curled Tottenham ahead before substitute Ndombele struck twice in a cruel end to Wycombe’s challenge after manager Jose Mourinho brought on the big guns, including Harry Kane.

Spurs were stunned when Fred Onyedinma gave Wycombe the lead in the 25th minute and a shock was brewing on a freezing night at Adams Park as the visitors were twice denied by the crossbar.

But Gareth Bale levelled with a clever finish just before the interval and Tottenham’s second-half dominance eventually earned them an away trip to Everton.

“If it goes to extra time, it would be bad for both teams,” a relieved Mourinho said.

“The attitude from the players from the first minute was excellent, then the players on the bench, they came with the intention of giving something to the team, so overall it was a good squad performance.“

The Telegraph, London with Reuters