Frank Lampard has admitted that he was ‘pushing’ to complete a transfer for Erling Haaland during his previous spell as Chelsea boss.
As relayed by ESPN, it seems like the £51 million (GOAL) man had well and truly caught the English legend’s eye during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
While Manchester City eventually won the transfer race to sign Erling Haaland, Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard has reflected on his attempts to sign him.
Frank Lampard admits Chelsea made Erling Haaland transfer attempt
Branded as ‘unreal’ by Fabrizio Romano, the 22-year-old has obliterated not just Mohamed Salah’s Premier League goal record, but even Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s, as he received a guard of honour from his teammates.
The 22-year-old has scored a ridiculous 52 goals in all competitions, as he has rewritten goalscoring standards since his arrival at City.
As Manchester City face Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in a game where a win for the hosts will confirm their status as Premier League champions, Frank Lampard has reflected on his attempts to wrap up a transfer for Erling Haaland.
“I don’t know whether he would have decided to come here anyway but I was a big fan of that [signing Haaland]. There are some of those that happen, aren’t there, that people know about or it could have been this way.”
“People talk a lot about mistakes or things that could have been in football. Whether he would have come here, I don’t know but I was pushing big and on a few other players at the time. But he was the outstanding one.”
Frank Lampard further elaborated on whether Erling Haaland to Chelsea was a realistic transfer at the time, saying, “Was it close? He’ll only know the answer to that. What stage did it get to? From our point, I was certainly pushing it. I’m not sure what the appetite was everywhere else in the club to do it.
“The competition was big to take him because he was an outstanding player and I think there was a buyout clause at the time which was relatively reasonable, maybe, considering the player.”
“So, all those things. I don’t have enough detail to say how close it was, it’s by the by, really.”
