Lampard admits he was 'desperate to sign Bellingham' at Chelsea
Cameron Smith
- 6 Nov 2023 16:16 GMT
- 3 min read
Former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has revealed that he was “desperate” to sign Jude Bellingham during his first stint as Blues manager, but was unable to convince the club to finalise a deal.
Bellingham, 20, was courted by England’s top clubs during his time with Birmingham City, most notably Manchester United, but he ended up joining Borussia Dortmund in 2020 instead.
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After a successful stint in the Bundesliga, the England international signed for Real Madrid this summer and has netted 13 goals in just 14 games for his new club.
However, Lampard has admitted that Bellingham could have been plying his trade for Chelsea if the Blues hierarchy had listened to his demands.
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What has been said?
Lampard appeared on John Obi Mikel’s new podcast (The Obi One Podcast) and revealed: “When I was managing at Chelsea [during my first spell] I was desperate to bring Jude Bellingham in. But I couldn’t get it through upstairs the idea of paying £20 million for someone his age.”
Bellingham was just 17 years old when he left Birmingham for Dortmund and while the €30.2m fee they paid for his services seems a snip now, it was certainly a risk at the time.
It’s not the first time that Chelsea will have regretted not listening to Lampard’s transfer requests either. The Blues legend also asked to sign Declan Rice and Erling Haaland during his first stint in the dugout at Stamford Bridge, but his demands fell on deaf ears.
Rice is now playing for Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal after his €116.6m summer move from West Ham United, while Haaland helped Manchester City to a historic treble during his first season with the club last year.
Furthermore, Lampard also played a role in Chelsea’s brief pursuit of Moises Caicedo in late 2020, during his time at Independiente del Valle. The Ecuadorian eventually joined Brighton & Hove Albion before Chelsea spent an initial €116m to sign him this summer.
