Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has now claimed that he was desperate for Chelsea to make one huge addition during his first spell in charge of the club.
He told the ‘Obi One Podcast’ that he pushed for the club to bring in Jude Bellingham,
However the idea was not picked up on by those upstairs at the club at the time.
Despite being just 20 years of age, Bellingham has quickly established himself has one of the best midfielders in world football right now.
He is quickly showing why he was worth the £100m Real Madrid spent on him over the summer,
And why the majority of Europe’s top clubs were so keen on bringing him in.
Chelsea were reportedly one of those interested in a deal,
However the groundwork done at an earlier stage by the La Liga side made them the clear favourites to bring him in.
Lampard was desperate for Bellingham
The Blues could well have skipped all of this discussion if they had listened to Lampard a few years ago. He has now claimed that he pushed hard for the club to bring him in for a fifth of the price he ended up costing.
He said: “When I was managing at Chelsea (first time) I was desperate to bring Jude Bellingham in. But I couldn’t get it through upstairs – the idea of paying £20m for someone his age (at the time).”
Despite missing out on a gem in Bellingham, the supporters at Stamford Bridge will certainly be happy with the midfield options they currently have.
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are beginning to form a very competent partnership in the middle of the park,
And they will soon be joined by Romeo Lavia as he approaches his debut after unfortunate injury luck.
And Lampard has also said that he wanted to bring Declan Rice back to the club
He left as a youngster long before the England star decided on moving to Arsenal from West Ham in a £105m transfer. “I wanted to bring in Declan Rice,” Lampard said last season. “I was like ‘this kid is going to be the captain of Chelsea for the next 10 years’. It didn’t happen, anyway, it is hard to dissect people’s work.”
