Everton manager Frank Lampard has responded to comments made by Jurgen Klopp about Manchester City's financial muscle before his side beat the Blues on Sunday.
City fell to a disappointing 1-0 loss at Anfield on Sunday in what was a bad-tempered contest from start to finish, with Mohamed Salah's second half strike proving the difference. Liverpool boss Klopp had stoked the flames somewhat during his pre-match press conference on Friday when he responded to a question about whether anybody can compete with City due to their financial muscle.
"Oh, you won’t like the answer. You will not like the answer, and you [the journalists] all have the answer already. Nobody can compete with City in that," Klopp said. "You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market, no matter what it costs you just do it. I know City will not like it, nobody will like it, you've asked the question but you know the answer.
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"What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It is not possible. Not possible. It is just clear and again you know the answer. There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially. It's legal and everything, fine. But they can do what they want."
Klopp's players proved him wrong by winning on Sunday, although City do still hold a 10-point lead on Liverpool (albeit having played one game more).
Ahead of his side's meeting with Newcastle - a team backed up by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund - former Chelsea and City midfielder Lampard was asked how teams like Everton can financially compete with the likes of Newcastle and City.
"I think in modern football everyone has a different position and a different perspective," Lampard said. "Sometimes it changes and I think this is why we love the Premier League. I lived the Chelsea story as a player and I touched it as a Manchester City player for a year. There are a lot of stories there that you can just embrace and love.
"City got voted the Club of the Year last night [at the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony] for the many many good things that they do off the pitch. Everybody's different. This thing of financial play I always find a bit strange. There are teams who have a lot more income than we do and can spend more on wages but that's the story of the modern game. It's all relative."
When asked specifically about Klopp's comments, Lampard made clear that Liverpool have already proved they can compete with City.
"Liverpool have competed with them [City] with great coaching. They've brought in [Virgil] Van Dijk and Alisson [Becker]. They're clearly going to be amongst it, I can understand what he [Klopp] says. We're the same with Newcastle, they've spent £200m in two windows, we can't do that... I particularly look at the story I was involved in with City, how they handle themselves, I think it's fantastic, that's where I'm at."
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