“Lampard was keen to maintain the English core to his team that had brought him success during his first season in charge, but only Ben Chilwell arrived of the homegrown players he suggested be signed.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho and Brighton defender Ben White were all deemed too expensive by the club's decision-makers, with the club instead keen to take advantage of the release clauses in Werner and Hakim Ziyech's contracts to bring them in from RB Leipzig and Ajax, respectively,

Havertz, meanwhile, was regarded as a generational talent who had outgrown Bayer Leverkusen by the club's European scouts, while the decision to sign Thiago Silva on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain was a last-minute call as the Blues took advantage of their continental contacts.

Despite the new players not being on Lampard's original wishlist, there is no doubt that he still had one of the more talented groups of players in Europe and he certainly bought into integrating them into his team.“


Now do you understand how the board focked
up? Marina is good at striking financial deals,
and business affairs, but she knows shit about football.
Michael Emenalo didn’t operate that way.