Everton manager Frank Lampard has revealed that he wanted to sign Erling Haaland when he was at Chelsea.
Lampard managed at Stamford Bridge between the summer of 2019 and January 2021, after securing Champions League football in his first season with the club under a transfer embargo.
The restriction was lifted for the following summer and while Lampard may have attempted to sign Haaland, then at RB Salzburg, he ultimately switched to Borussia Dortmund, before moving to Manchester City where he became the quickest player to score 20 goals in the Premier League, needing just 14 appearances.
Chelsea signed Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, but the German returned to the Bundesliga club last summer after failing to score regularly for the Blues.
Lampard is now manager at Everton and told the press ahead of his side’s game with City that he wanted to sign the Norway international.
Chelsea fans and Lampard himself may kick themselves knowing the quality of the player that they missed out on, with Haaland making City the favourites, for many, to win the Premier League and Champions League this season. City have yet to win the latter tournament in their history, despite the billions of pounds in backing from their owners in Abu Dhabi, and the managerial expertise of Pep Guardiola.
Lampard said: “He is an amazing player and the ultimate top-level players generally can do what he does in a top-level league. I coached against him in a pre-season game when he was playing for Salzburg. I tried to sign him for Chelsea and it was not to be.
“It was clear in our pre-match preparation what this boy was. Fair play to him. We are going against him and I respect those at the top of their game. I watched the World Cup final with [Kylian] Mbappe and [Lionel] Messi, and Haaland has got himself in that bracket at a very young age.”
Lampard also has links to City, having played for them after his playing contract ended at Chelsea in 2014. He then joined City’s American sister club, New York City, to play 31 games and score 15 goals over the course of two seasons, before retiring.
Everton have struggled for form this season and sit 17th, one point clear of the bottom three after 16 games played.