Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard has opened up on his attempt to sign Erling Braut Haaland during his first stint at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are currently preparing to face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, their hosts having the chance to be crowned Premier League champions for the third successive season.
Chelsea will be coming up against a forward in Haaland who has netted 36 goals in the top flight and a further 16 strikes in other competitions.
However, things could have theoretically been different had Haaland made the decision to join Chelsea during the early stages of his career.
Ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, Lampard was backed in the transfer market, Chelsea signing the likes of Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner during that particular period.
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From Haaland's perspective, he had spent half a season at Borussia Dortmund, scoring 13 goals in 15 Bundesliga fixtures, but a release clause meant that the Norway international was deemed to be a target for a wide array of clubs.
Haaland, then 20 years of age, opted to remain at Westfalenstadion for a further two years before making the switch to Man City last summer.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Lampard acknowledged his admiration of Haaland and was quizzed on how close Chelsea got to getting what would have been one of the most notable transfers in the recent history over the line.
Lampard told reporters: "I don't know if he would have decided to come here anyway but I was a big fan. There are some of those transfers that people don't know about or could have happened.
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"People talk about mistakes or things that could have happened in football, but whether he would have come or not, I was pushing big. On him and a few other players, but he was the outstanding one.
Lampard later added: "I'm not sure what the appetite elsewhere in the club was to do it. The competition was big, I think there was a buyout clause that was relatively reasonable considering the player, but I don't have enough details about how close we were."
Haaland has only played in one of City's three matches against Chelsea this season, failing to score in the 1-0 league win at Stamford Bridge at the start of January.
In his previous appearance, Haaland netted for City as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton - then managed by Lampard - at the Etihad Stadium.
Darren Plant
