Frank Lampard slams Chelsea’s old regime over their reluctance in signing Erling Haaland when he was first in charge of the Blues.
Haaland was still playing for Red Bull Salzburg when Lampard made his move for the striker after he watched him during a summer friendly against the Blues in 2019.
The Norwegian however joined Borussia Dortmund for £18million and he is now at Manchester City about to lead the fearsome forward line that faces Chelsea on Sunday.
Frank Lampard – who is overseeing Chelsea until the end of the season – spoke on his interest to sign the former Borussia Dortmund forward, saying: “I pushed it.”
“I’m not sure what the appetite everywhere else at the club was to do it.”
“The competition was big because he was an outstanding player.”
“I think there was a buyout clause at the time that was reasonable considering the player.”
“I don’t have enough detail to know how close it was. We prepped for that game and watched Salzburg and we were struck by him.
“He’s quite striking anyway because of his stature and size.”
“In that year, he scored a lot of goals at Salzburg. It wasn’t hard to scout him. It was easy because he was making waves.”
“The recruitment at that point was not so much my job every week.”
“It was the department that did that and he was a clear player of interest.”
Frank Lampard continued: “He’s special. I thought he’d adapt straight away.
“With his level and his record of scoring firstly in Austria, secondly for his country and then in the Bundesliga — which is not an easy league — to come into a really good unit already, that’s a recipe to really help him.”
“The rest is credit to himself and the team around him.”
Erling Haaland-led Manchester City could lift their third Premier League title in a row against Chelsea as the first trophy of their quest for a Treble.
Frank Lampard-led Chelsea on the other hand will witness their Premier League rivals celebrating a title they failed to contend for this season despite heavy investment.
Lampard added: “The only inspiration there should be is what it’s taken City to get where they are.”
“Their team clearly works hard. When one player has to stop working hard another one steps in.
“That’s what the players have to understand”.
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard OBE is an English football manager and former player who was born 20 of June 1978 and is caretaker manager of Chelsea.
Lampard is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest players ever, and one of the greatest midfielders of his generation.
He currently has the record of the most goals by a midfielder in the Premier League and scoring the most goals from outside the box (41).
Lampard ranked highly on a number of statistics for Premier League players for the ten years from 1 December 2000, including most games and most wins.
As a coach, Lampard has not been able to replicate such massive success in his managerial career as he has had a poor run as a coach.
Erling Haaland
Erling Braut Haaland, a Norwegian football player, was born on 21 July 2000 and plays as a striker for Manchester City and Norway.
Haaland is considered one of the best players in the world and he is known for his speed, strength, positioning, and finishing inside the box.
The 22-year-old holds the record for the most goals scored by a player in a single Premier League season, with 36 goals.
The young player is renowned for his record-breaking feats, and he has gone on to beak several records and is still not done yet.
In 2019/20, Haaland became the first teenager to score goals in five consecutive UEFA Champions League matches with Salzburg.
The Man City forward also finished as the top scorer of the Champions League for the 2020/21 season.
He did win the Golden Boy award in the year 2020, and in 2021 he was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season and also included in the FIFA FIFPro World11 in 2021 and 2022.
He has continued to break records since he joined Manchester City from Dortmund for a transfer fee of €60 million (£51.2 million) and he’s not stopping anytime soon.
