Frank Lampard insists he wanted to sign Erling Haaland during his first spell in charge of Chelsea - but club chiefs vetoed the move.
Haaland, 22, has scored 52 goals in all competitions this season to give Manchester City a chance of winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Manchester United are currently the only team in history to achieve that feat in the same season, doing so under Sir Alex Ferguson 24 years ago.
City will receive the Premier League trophy if they beat Chelsea at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon, which is their final home game of the campaign. It's up to Lampard and his players to find a way to stop Pep Guardiola's rampant side - including Haaland.
Lampard was asked about the Norway international during his pre-match press conference on Friday. Chelsea's caretaker manager said: "I don't know whether he would have decided to come here anyway but I was a big fan of that [signing Haaland].
"There are some of those that happen, aren't there, that people know about or it could have been this way. People talk a lot about mistakes or things that could have been in football. Whether he would have come here, I don't know but I was pushing big and on a few other players at the time. But he was the outstanding one."
Chelsea were under a transfer embargo when Lampard was first appointed as manager. His only full transfer window in charge was in the summer of 2020, when Haaland was playing for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
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It would've been difficult for Chelsea to sign Haaland at that stage. The prolific forward only joined Dortmund from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020 and made a blistering start to his time in Germany, scoring 13 goals in just 15 Bundesliga games.
Haaland's £51million release clause didn't come into play until last summer, when City struck a deal. It would've taken a significantly higher offer for Chelsea to land Haaland in the summer of 2020, although even £100m would've been money well spent.
Lampard went on to ponder: "Was it close? He'll only know the answer to that. What stage did it get to? From our point, I was certainly pushing it. I'm not sure what the appetite was everywhere else in the club to do it.
"The competition was big to take him because he was an outstanding player and I think there was a buyout clause at the time which was relatively reasonable, maybe, considering the player. So all those things. I don't have enough detail to say how close it was, it's by the by, really."
Lampard, who has lost seven of his eight games in charge of Chelsea since his re-appointment, will be hoping Haaland has a quiet Sunday. The Blues are 11th in the table and will be hoping to finish there, with Crystal Palace, Wolves and Bournemouth not far behind.
Lampard knows exactly what to expect of Haaland after following his career trajectory. He added: "I think he's special, I thought he'd adapt straight away and show his level. I didn't consider it that closely but with the level of player and his record of scoring, firstly in Austria, secondly for his country and in the Bundesliga, which is not an easy league.
"To come into a really good unit already is a recipe to really help him, and then the rest is just credit to himself and the team around him. It is not an easy hindsight answer, I've got real respect for the player."
