The Blues faced two transfer window ban which prevented them from making any signings. They have now become the most active club in the transfer market ahead of the 2020 season.
Chelsea hijacked Liverpool’s move for German striker, Timo Werner and simultaneously signed up Hakim Ziyech from Ajax. They spent enough money to bring in Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell. This hasn’t gone down too well for Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp. They were in a run after Thiago Silva and Timo Werner but couldn’t match with Chelsea.
Timo Werner Rejected Man City and Liverpool Offers to Join Chelsea
And with both Premier League rivals (Manchester City and Chelsea) splashing large chunks of money in the summer transfer window, he could not resist the cheeky swipe.
Chelsea is backed by their Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich while the royal family’s City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour is part of the Emirati government.
Klopp takes a Dig at Chelsea’s Summer Spending
Liverpool boss Klopp reacted to Chelsea’s summer spending spree in an interview and says that the coronavirus pandemic should have an effect on their spending.
Klopp told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We live in a world at the moment with a lot of uncertainty.
“For some clubs, it seems less important how uncertain the future is. Owned by countries, owned by oligarchs, that’s the truth. We are a different kind of club.”
“We got to the Champions League final two years ago, we won it last year.”
“We cannot change it overnight and say, ‘Now we want to behave like Chelsea.’
“They are signing a lot of players. That can be an advantage, but that means they have to fit together.
“You cannot bring in the 11 best players in the world and just hope a week later they play the best football,” said Klopp.
Lampard Strikes Back
Frank Lampard didn’t stay quiet. He hit back at Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of Chelsea’s summer spending by terming it as ‘amusing’.
Chelsea has rebuilt their squad by spending more than £200m on new recruits this summer.
Lamaprd dismissed Klopp’s statement of terming Chelsea as one of the “clubs owned by countries and oligarchs.”
Blues manager Lampard believes Klopp was as much defending Liverpool’s lack of summer signings as overlooking the Reds’ previous recruitment drives that have propelled the Anfield club back to the top.
“I was less annoyed with it, I found it more, slightly amusing, I would say,” said Lampard.
Lampard is of the opinion that it doesn’t matter what line of business the club owners come from.
“We’re talking about some very wealthy owners of clubs in the Premier League.”
“I think with Liverpool’s story – and I referenced it a lot last year, Liverpool’s story – it’s a fantastic story of a club over four-and-a-half, five years that Jurgen Klopp’s been there that have managed to get recruitment right to a really high level.
Lampard has admitted of following Liverpool’s project. He expects other rivals to follow Klopp’s lead in criticizing their free-spending summer. He admitted that it is all a part of the Premier League battleground which has already started.
Lampard was asked if Chelsea have to accept their transfer business to draw attention from their rivals.
“Yeah and those are the rules because I would maybe reference it elsewhere,”said the Blues coach.
The Reds have made just one signing in the summer transfer window so far, bringing in Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas for £11.75million.
The memory of the Chelsea Coach and Jurgen Klopp spat is still afresh. Their rivalry started with a touchline spat in July where Chelsea lost to Liverpool.
However, Chelsea wasted no time to spend big with Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz all arriving for £230m. The addition of Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr as free agents made Chelsea one of the favorites to land the Premier League. They are now the prime contenders to fight with the defendant champions, Liverpool which Klopp definitely is aware of now.
