Frank Lampard admits Chelsea could give Manchester City a guard of honour if they win the title before they play on Sunday, while he insists he hasn’t spoken to Mauricio Pochettino about his imminent arrival at Stamford Bridge.
Man City will wrap up the Premier League title over the weekend if or if the Citizens beat Chelsea on Sunday.
It is tradition that the opposing team gives the champions a guard of honour before each match after they have won the title.
And Lampard – who took over as caretaker boss at the beginning of last month – says that Chelsea could give City a guard of honour if Arsenal lose on Saturday.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Lampard told reporters: “I haven’t but we could do. That has happened to me in my career.”
On Pep Guardiola’s side, Lampard added: “They’re clearly a fantastic team and have been for a good while now. They’ve done it on a consistent basis now and on those levels they maybe are close to the greatest.
“Full respect for them. The form they’re in, you wouldn’t want to bet against them for anything.”
Erling Haaland, who Lampard attempted to sign in his last spell as Chelsea boss, has been one of the key reasons for Man City’s brilliant form this season with the Norway international scoring 52 goals in 49 matches in all competitions.
Lampard said of Haaland: “Credit to him, I love seeing players at that level with the hunger to be the best and in terms of dealing with him, you have to have a plan. I’m sure the players have a good awareness of him.”
The Chelsea boss added: “Whether he’d have come I don’t know, but I was pushing big. I’m not sure what the appetite was at the club. The competition was big because he’s an outstanding player. But the buyout was reasonable.”
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On whether he has spoken to Pochettino about his new role, Lampard replied: “No [I haven’t spoken to him]. It’s not official yet.”
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