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Frank Lampard has claimed he tried to sign Erling Haaland while in charge at Chelsea in 2019.
Lampard was appointed by the club where he established himself as an all-time midfield great that same year after leaving Derby County and remained in the hot seat until his sacking in 2021.
A bright start while dealing with a transfer ban soured in his second season and he was dismissed after a poor run of results that had seen them fall away from the top of the tree.
Lampard has since taken charge at Everton and steered them clear of relegation last season, but takes them to the Etihad Stadium this weekend to play Haaland and Manchester City.
Speaking ahead of the game, he explained: “[Haaland] 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.”
Lampard added: “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.”
Haaland was linked with a move to the Premier League for a number of years but finally made the switch in the summer, heading to City from Dortmund in a £51m deal. He’s since hit the ground running, becoming the fastest player in the league’s history to reach 20 goals.
