Lampard, Chelsea’s No 1 target to take over as manager after Maurizio Sarri left the club at the weekend, has told players at Pride Park that he will be on his way, once his terms are met.
Derby are yet to receive a formal offer from Chelsea for their former player, who led the Midlands club to the Championship play-offs this season.
However, initial talks are underway, and the Stamford Bridge club are ready to offer the 40-year-old a three-year contract.
Lampard himself is on holiday in the south of France, but Derby, who want £4million to release the former England midfielder from the remaining two years of his current deal, are already preparing for his departure.
Sarri, meanwhile, who has agreed a two-year deal with Juventus with an option for a third year, will be formally presented as the Serie A club’s new manager today in Turin.
Chelsea want to tie up the deal for Frank Lampard by the end of this week but may be forced to wait while Derby locate a successor.
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has rejected an approach, and Charlton’s Lee Bowyer was another option, but he has just agreed a new contract.
John Terry, Lampard’s old Chelsea team-mate who is now assistant head coach at Aston Villa, was also a candidate, but he too signed a new deal on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the last of Sarri’s possessions were being cleaned out of his office at Chelsea’s training ground on Wednesday.
The Italian removed most of his gear straight after Chelsea’s Europa League win over Arsenal three weeks ago.
Sarri, 60, indicated that he wanted out of the club after the win in Baku, when he returned his club car to the training ground straight after the squad returned from Azerbaijan.
He also turned his club phone off – which meant that assistant Gianfranco Zola could not find out what was going on with his manager for several days.
Zola is now set to leave the club after turning down an ambassadorial role – and could join Sarri at Juventus.
Brazilian defender Emerson – a target for Sarri at Juventus – has revealed that he did not want the Italian to leave: “It’s difficult because we had a really good season. Also because it was his first season in England. In the Premier League, it’s hard.
“Looking at Chelsea’s situation, maybe it would’ve been better for him to stay with us after such a good first season. The second could have been even better. I believe it was a very tiresome season for him. He did a good job, but maybe he wanted to return to Italy to be closer to his family.”
Emerson also revealed how Eden Hazard, who last week joined Real Madrid in a £130 million move, had said goodbye to his teammates: “On our WhatsApp group he sent a ‘thank you, I love you guys’, and then it showed ‘Eden Hazard left the group’. I said ‘damn, he really left’.”