Despite claiming he would meet our record goalscorer for lunch shortly after succeeding him as Blues boss, Tuchel has yet to come face-to-face with Lampard, with their only previous conversation coming via a good luck message sent from the Toffees boss when the German took over at Stamford Bridge in January 2021.

In the present day, Lampard's Everton have won just one of their last six matches in all competitions and find themselves in the relegation zone ahead of Chelsea’s visit, who are looking to build on our strong performance at Old Trafford on Thursday.

‘He sent me a very kind and respectful message after I took over at Chelsea, which meant a lot to me because I was a huge fan of him as a player and he is - and will remain - a legend at our club. This is absolutely sure and a given,’ Tuchel revealed.

‘I was very happy when he wrote me this very gentleman-like message. We didn’t have the chance to go out and have lunch, then he took the chance to take charge of Everton and he took Joe Edwards [assistant coach] away from us, so we were not so happy with that!,’ Tuchel added jokingly.

‘Of course, we were involved so we will meet some familiar faces on the other side, with Ashley Cole, Joey and Frank. I never met him in person so I will be happy to meet him but we arrive with our team, we need the points and they need the points urgently as well.’

Our two Premier League matches this week are both at grounds that Thomas Tuchel has never visited before as Chelsea boss.

While he had managed Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford in the Champions League, the same cannot be said for Goodison Park, and Tuchel is expecting a lively atmosphere on Merseyside, especially given their current situation.

‘It’s a very exciting week for me personally because I love to play at Old Trafford,' he continued. 'It’s a fantastic stadium and one of the biggest stages in world football.

'Everybody tells me about the atmosphere at Goodison Park and how emotional and tough it is to play there, so it's two nice fixtures and this is what it’s all about. We’re excited to go there and we expect a tough fight.’

The Bavarian also had some hugely positive words to say on Frank Lampard’s influence on some of our most talented Academy products, such as Reece James - who shone at Old Trafford in his latest outing.

‘Frank did not do it to do them [our Academy graduates] a favour. I think that every coach does it because it’s all about helping the team, it’s not about age in either direction.

‘I’m very grateful for the quality that the Academy produces and for the culture at Chelsea to push these boys through. It is our job to let them play, to prepare and push them on this kind of level. This is what Chelsea is all about and I’m happy for that.’