Liverpool have spent huge amounts - Lampard 'amused' by Klopp jibe

Frank Lampard brushed off criticism from Jurgen Klopp over Chelsea's spending spree, saying he finds the comments "amusing" given Liverpool's own expensively-assembled squad.

Chelsea have spent to close to £200million on Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech, Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva in an attempt to close the gap on champions Liverpool.

By comparison, the Reds have so far brought in just Kostas Tsimikas from Olympiakos this transfer window, with Klopp stating on Thursday his side are "a different club" to their rivals as they are "not owned by countries or oligarchs".

However, Lampard suggested Liverpool would never have won a first league title in 30 years last time out had Klopp not been financially backed to bring in the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah in previous windows.

Asked about Klopp's comments ahead of the Blues' season opener at Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday, Lampard told reporters: "I found it slightly amusing because 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 rich owners in the Premier League. With Liverpool's story, I referenced it a lot last year. They've managed to get recruitment right to a really high level. 

"The reality is - other than maybe Leicester - most clubs that win the league in the modern day 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 try to address the situation ourselves. It's par for the course. There's no point doing the maths.