Why Chelsea's generosity to Frank Lampard may come back to haunt them
What do Jan Vertonghen, Lomana Lualua and Thibaut Courtois all have in common? All three have embarrassed the clubs that employed them, while playing for someone else.
Appearing on loan against your parent club is rare but not unheard of, and Chelsea take on a Derby County side on Wednesday night which could include two of their own players in Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori.
After Derby beat Manchester United on penalties in the League Cup third round, the draw provided another chapter of the Frank Lampard-Chelsea story.
Lampard won every domestic and European honour over the course of 13 years at Stamford Bridge and will be greeted as a hero on his return. Chelsea began the hospitality early by kindly granting permission for Mount and Tomori to play against them.
“We believe the experience of facing top-level opposition once more will be of benefit to their on-going development at Derby," read a statement on Chelsea's website.
Despite the niceties this seems an unusual decision, especially given Chelsea's previous experience with Thibaut Courtois.
In 2014 the goalkeeper appeared on loan for Atletico Madrid against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals and played a crucial role to help Diego Simeone's side knock his parent club out.
Lampard's final English club Manchester City were another to feel the pain of one of their own twisting the knife in the Champions League after Patrick Roberts, on loan at Celtic, scored to earn a 1-1 draw in Dec 2016.
The Premier League allows for no such embarrassment, thanks to Lomana LuaLua and his backflipping celebration. It was his late equaliser for Portsmouth, on loan from Newcastle United in March 2004, which prompted the rule forbidding loanees from playing against their employees.
But the EFL Cup permits clubs in the competition to make agreements for players to appear against their parent clubs, provided written consent is given.
So what damage could Mount and Tomori do to Chelsea? The pair have been in impressive form under Lampard in an encouraging start to the season Derby.
Calgary-born centre back Tomori has been an ever-present since captain Curtis Davies sustained a hamstring injury in the opening game of the season, striking up an effective partnership with Richard Keogh.
Tomori and Keogh have accounted for 135 clearances in the league with Tomori shading his partner on 68.
Tomori, who won the Under-20 World Cup winner with England in 2017, also leads Derby's tackles won count on 18 and has shown he is equally comfortably on the ball, with pass accuracy of 81.75 per cent.
That is ahead of Mount on 73.91 per cent, although the midfielder is required to attempt higher-risk passes in his more attacking position.
Mount is not short of fans though, Gareth Southgate among them after calling him into England squad for the recent internationals.
The 19-year-old may have found his card increasingly marked in recent weeks with opposite teams reacting to his influence in games by trying to mark him more closely, but his stats will not have gone unnoticed by Chelsea's coaching staff either.
As well as contributing five goals in 18 league games, Mount has created the most chances (35), taken the most shots (43), and completed the second most dribbles (9) in the Derby. Chelsea will underestimate him at their peril.
Tuesday marked 19 years since Derby last beat Chelsea, a 3-1 win in the Premier League. Two late goals from Rory Delap made the difference after Frank Lebeouf had cancelled out Deon Burton's opener.
Among the Chelsea line-up was Gianfranco Zola - now assistant manager to Maurizio Sarri - and Jody Morris, the man Lampard chose as his number two at Pride Park. At that point, Lampard was still with West Ham and two years away from his Chelsea debut.
His Derby side looked fearless against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Lampard will want more of the same at Stamford Bridge.
If they can upset the odds again on Hallowe'en, Chelsea's loannee decision may come back to haunt them.
