Chelsea return to Premier League football today in yet another new season.
This time though, Frank Lampard has been totally backed by a host of new signings to improve his squad after a stuttering and inconsistent season last term.
The Blues host Brighton this evening, and we will probably see two of their shiny new signings make an appearance – German internationals Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are the only two new boys available to play.
Chelsea have had an insane summer of spending, and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had some bitter and hypocritical comments about it.
Jurgen Klopp insisted his club are not run by ‘oligarchs’ and ‘countries’ – mocking Chelsea for spending, as reported by TalkSport.
However, as Lampard pointed out in his response via The Telegraph, Liverpool HAVE spent a lot of money over the years, but Chelsea have been transfer banned and are making up for lost time.
Lampard said:
“I was less annoyed with it [Klopp’s comments].
“I found it slightly amusing because I think when you talk about the owners of clubs, I don’t think it matters what line of business they come from. We are talking about some very wealthy owners of clubs in the Premier League.
“With Liverpool’s story, I referenced it a lot last year. It’s a fantastic story of a club over the four-and-a-half or five years that Jurgen Klopp’s been there, where they’ve managed to get recruitment right to a really high level.
“The reality is – other than maybe Leicester, which was an incredible story – most clubs that win the league in the modern day have recruited well and have recruited at quite a high level money-wise. You can go through the Liverpool players – Van Dijk, Alisson, Fabinho, Keita, Mane, Salah. Incredible players that came at a very high price. Liverpool have done it over a period of time.
“What we have done is come off the back of a ban and probably try to address the situation ourselves to help improve us. It’s par for the course. We all know that. There’s no point doing the maths. We know that Liverpool have spent at a high level. We know they have an incredible coach. We know they have incredible players.
“The really smart thing Liverpool have done is believe in their coach and believe in their system for a number of years. It’s a great story, but it’s a story where they’ve spent money on players. This summer we’ve spent money on players and now the hard work has to come.
“My job is not to get too caught up in the comments of others because a lot of managers who work for clubs at this level will be spending money and will be judged by how well we spend money and bring players in, and be judged by how well we coach them and the results we get.”
