Chelsea coach Frank Lampard is under pressure to deliver a serious Premier League title challenge after a spending spree fuelled by his desire to catch champions Liverpool, reports AFP.
Lampard showed promise in his first season by steering the Blues into the Champions League with a fourth place domestic finish.
But Arsenal exposed the flaws that were visible in Lampard’s side all season with a 2-1 win against their London rivals in the FA Cup final.
Having finished 33 points behind the Reds and 15 adrift of second placed Manchester City last term, the response from the Stamford Bridge hierarchy has been emphatic.
City set the record for the biggest total spend by a Premier League club when Pep Guardiola splashed out œ223.8 million ($295 million) ahead of the 2017-18 season.
But Chelsea are on course to shatter that mark. After enduring a transfer ban in the 2019 summer window before failing to sign a single player during the 2020 January market, owner Roman Abramovich sanctioned the kind of money-is-no-object recruitment drive that was commonplace when he first bought the club.
After relying on a cadre of promising youngsters to kick-start his reign, Lampard has prioritised proven talents in the transfer market.
He paid a combined œ141 million for Leipzig striker Timo Werner, Ajax playmaker Hakim Ziyech and Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell.
The west Londoners are expected to wrap up their œ90 million swoop for Bayer Leverkusen forward Kai Havertz this week, which would take them past City’s record spree.
Malang Sarr has also arrived on a free transfer after the 21-year-ol centre-back left Nice, but he is seen as one for the future and will be sent on loan.
