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.

"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 system for a number of years.

"It's a great story but it's a story where they've spent money. This summer we've spent money and now the hard work has to come."

Klopp also warned that Chelsea's new recruits would need time to gel, which Lampard is in agreement with.

"When you carry on reading what Klopp said he made the point that bringing in a group of players is not going to be easy for us," he said.

"We are talking about some younger players from different leagues, so I think he was talking about it in a fair context."

After finishing a respectable fourth in the Premier League last season, Lampard has accepted he is now under a lot more pressure to deliver success at Stamford Bridge.

"Those are the rules," he said. "I would probably mention the transfer ban quite a lot last year. Maybe I felt that was some of the reason we were 30 points behind the top two teams.

"I feel we've done it this summer with a view on bringing in young players of very high talent, with the exception of Thiago Silva and his age."

Published 14 Sep 2020, 03:50 IST