Frank Lampard has revealed he tried to sign Erling Haaland for Chelsea during his first spell as the manager at Stamford Bridge.
The Manchester City striker came up against Lampard’s team in a pre-season friendly in 2019 while he was playing for RB Salzburg in Austria.
He scored 28 goals in 22 matches that season before signing for Borussia Dortmund the following summer, but Lampard said he attempted to bring him to west London instead during his 18-month spell in charge between 2019 and 2021.
Ultimately competition for the Norway international’s signature, together with the fact not everybody at Chelsea was convinced that a bid for Haaland would have been the right move, meant that Lampard was left frustrated.
His 36 Premier League goals for title-chasing City this season mean he has scored as many times in the league as the entire Chelsea squad have, with the two teams meeting at the Etihad on Sunday as City look for the victory they need to seal the title.
Chelsea by contrast remain in the bottom half of the table, with their struggles in front of goal this season having shown no sign of easing in recent weeks.
“I’ve got huge respect for him as a player, he’s a player I tried to bring to Chelsea the first time I was here,” said Lampard. “I was really keen to get him here but obviously that couldn’t happen. His level at that point was very clear, we played against him in a pre-season game for Salzburg.
“Credit to him, I love seeing players of that level, I love seeing players of that personality and hunger to play and be the best which he’s proved himself to be. In terms of having to deal with him you have to have obviously a plan and an idea, but players of that level can make anything happen at any moment.
“I think he’s special, I thought he’d adapt straight away just (because of) his level. I think with the level of players and his record of scoring, firstly in Austria then for his country and in the Bundesliga – which is not an easy league – to come into a really good unit already.
“The rest is just credit to himself and the team around him. I did expect that, it’s not just an easy hindsight answer, I’ve got real respect for the player.
“I don’t know whether he would have decided to come here anyway but I was a big fan. There are some of those that happen that people don’t know about that could have been this way, people talk a lot about mistakes and the things that could have been in football.
“Whether he would have come I don’t know, but I was pushing big, and for a couple of other players as well. But he was the outstanding one.
“From our point I was pushing it, I’m not sure what the appetite everywhere else in the club was to do it. The competition was big to take him because he was an outstanding player. I think there was a buyout clause at the time which I think was relatively reasonable given the player (he joined Dortmund for around £17million). I don’t have enough detail to say how close it was.”
Lampard has two matches left of his interim spell in charge, with Manchester United at Old Trafford and Newcastle at Stamford Bridge to come after City.
He has won only once during his eight games in the job, a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth earlier in May, with six defeats having come in that time including a Champions League exit to Real Madrid.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be confirmed as the permanent successor to Graham Potter, who was sacked on April 2, in the coming days, and he will have a huge rebuild on his hands after a disastrous season for the club.
Despite the poor form, Lampard said he has no regrets about agreeing to take over in the short-term from Potter.
“I have enjoyed it, I get asked it a lot,” he said. “You want to always get results but you have to be realistic in football. When I came into this, the Champions League dream that everyone talked to me about, (saying) it’s been done before, can we do it again?
“The realistic answer was we were where we were in the league for a reason. Our view was to try and beat Real Madrid then possible City to get to a final. In terms of the rest of the job, it’s been how many small wins can I try and impact behind the scenes. You can’t always impact results.
“Generally there’s a lot of work to do here. I can have a certain impact with certain individuals within the group because I have a big feeling for the club.”
Carragher lambasts Salah's 'selfish' contract talk
Jamie Carragher has criticised Mohamed Salah for being “selfish” after the Liverpool forward indicated he would more likely than not leave the club at the end of the season.
Salah suggested he was “probably more out than in” following his match-winning brace at Southampton that sent league leaders Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
His second goal of the two was his 100th away from Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions, but with his contract up at the end of the season, Salah is yet to receive a new offer.
Carragher was disappointed in the Egyptian’s decision to cast doubt on his future with clashes against Real Madrid and Manchester City fast approaching.
"Right now, there's obviously a big difference in the valuation. What Salah and his agent value themselves at, whether that's financially or in terms of length of contract, to what Liverpool do,” Carragher explained on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
"So the reason Liverpool wouldn't have offered a contract yet is because Salah will turn it down, so they're still in talks. I'm desperate for them to meet in the middle, but I am very disappointed with Salah.
"Liverpool have got Real Madrid midweek and they've got Manchester City at the weekend, that's the story for Liverpool right now.
"We’re all quite aware, certainly the local reporters are in Liverpool, that in the seven years he's been at the football club he's stopped in the mixed zone twice, which is his right, which is absolutely fine.
"But he decided to stop for the third time away at Southampton on the back of winning Liverpool the game and putting that out.”
Liverpool came back from behind to win 3-2 on the south coast with Salah sealing the three points from the spot seven minutes from time.
The right-winger has 16 goal contributions already this season (10 goals, six assists), leading Liverpool for goals and assists. He also boasts the best goalscoring rate in the squad, with a goal every 106 minutes.
His form has been invaluable to new boss Arne Slot, who has won 10 of his 12 Premier League games in charge of Liverpool (D1 L1), the joint-fastest any manager has reached double figures for wins from the start of their career in the competition.
It places the Merseyside team in a strong position to reclaim the league title.
"Now the most important thing for Liverpool this season is not the future of Mo Salah, it's not the future of Virgil van Dijk and it's not the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold,” added Carragher.
"The most important thing is Liverpool winning the Premier League. That is more important than any of those players, and if he continues to put comments out or his agent keeps putting cryptic tweets out, that's selfish, that's thinking about themselves and not the football club."
Arsenal must be 'ruthless' to earn statement win at Sporting, says Arteta
Arsenal need to be ruthless to secure a win against Sporting and snap their negative run of form away from home in the Champions League, manager Mikel Arteta said ahead of Tuesday's clash.
Winless in their last four European outings, Arsenal arrive in Portugal following a 1-0 defeat against Inter Milan at San Siro earlier this month.
Arteta's side currently sit 12th in the new Champions League 36-team format, where the top eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16, and the next 16 enter a two-legged playoff to join them.
The Spaniard acknowledged that improving their away form is key to his team's chances in Europe's top-tier club competition.
"It's certainly something we have to improve. We have the right steps, and looking back at the way we played against Inter, we dominated the game and should have won," Arteta told a news conference on Monday.
"But the reality is you have to make it happen, and we didn't. Those steps are what we need to take next - be ruthless and much more efficient in the opposition box.
"We wanted to be higher (in the standings), but it's the position we are in right now.
"We have to play in a way that's going to give us a chance to win the game and fight to do it as quickly as possible. Tomorrow we have a great opportunity to do that."
It will be the seventh meeting between Sporting and Arsenal in European competition. The Portuguese side are still looking for their first victory over the Gunners (D4 L2), though each of their last three meetings have ended level.
Sporting, who thrashed Manchester City 4-1 in their last outing, are enjoying an outstanding campaign, remaining unbeaten in second place with 10 points. However, they are now without former manager Ruben Amorim, who has departed to Manchester United.
Arteta acknowledged the Portuguese champions pose a major challenge for Arsenal but also offer an opportunity for a morale-boosting triumph.
"The run they are on is incredible, which tells you it's not only about their qualities but their ambition and the team energy they have. That's the great challenge we have," he said.
"To come here tomorrow, make a statement, and show that we are capable against this kind of opponent by being ourselves and winning the game."
Howe bemoans 'strange decisions' from Newcastle in West Ham defeat
Eddie Howe bemoaned some "strange decisions" and individual errors as Newcastle United lost 2-0 against West Ham at St James' Park.
Newcastle's three-match winning run in all competitions was halted as goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka earned West Ham victory in Monday's Premier League clash.
Soucek's 10th-minute opener came via a free header from a corner, while Wan-Bissaka had space inside the box to get a shot away for his goal early in the second half.
At the other end, Alexander Isak failed to find the target from any of his six shots, including one Opta-defined big opportunity at 1-0 down.
Reflecting on the defeat, Howe told Sky Sports: "It was a mixed night for us. In the first 60 minutes, although we were 2-0 down, we played some good football.
"But I was disappointed by the two goals we conceded and the last half-hour was really disappointing. We got our organisation wrong and made a couple of individual errors.
"If you leave a player with Tomas Soucek's aerial ability unmarked, you are going to pay the price. It's something we have to learn from.
"I was always confident we were in the game and there was a very good chance we could come back. But we missed some gilt-edged chances in the first half.
"I didn't feel we really got going in the second half. We made some strange decisions. I didn't like the end part of the game."
Newcastle have now lost two of their past three Premier League home games, as many losses as in their previous 20 outings at St James' Park.
The Magpies tasted defeat against West Ham in the Premier League for only the second time in 11 outings and dropped one place to 10th in the table, four points adrift of the top four.
"It's a really difficult one to take," Newcastle defender Lewis Hall told BBC Sport. "It was a massive game for us. We'd have been two points off second if we won.
"It was a frustrating game for us. We had a lot of the ball. When you are on top, you have to find a way to put the ball in the net, which we didn't do today."
Newcastle have failed to find the net in three of their past six league games and have just 13 goals for the season – only Everton, Crystal Palace (both 10) and Southampton (nine) have fewer.
"We know we can score goals," Hall added. "This season, we've defended better than we've attacked. But last season, we attacked better than we defended.
"It's about doing both. My message to the fans is to stick with us. Everyone works so hard throughout the week."
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