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Tottenham manager José Mourinho said Chelsea’s spending spree ahead of the 2020-21 season has caused manager Frank Lampard to hand over the Premier League title.
Chelsea spent over £ 200 million to bring in Edouard Mendy, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, among others, instantly making them contenders in Lampard’s second year in charge.
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Mourinho, whose Spurs team faces Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, said he had experienced similar pressure while managing title-winning teams at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
“When you are the favorite, you know why,” Mourinho said Friday. “You have to accept that and you have to deal with that kind of pressure and responsibility.
“I was in clubs that were, let’s say, champions in the market because of their powerful investments. I had to deal with that pressure. So now it is not my place to deal with that pressure, it is for others.”
Lampard, who won two Premier League titles and an FA Cup when he played for Chelsea with Mourinho between 2004 and 2007, played down suggestions of a rift between him and his former manager.
“We have always had a good relationship,” Lampard said.
“When we are coaches of big clubs that are rivals, it changes the relationship. Not in a bad way, I have no problem with him.”
