Chelsea FC Rumors: Lampard Explains Massive Spending, Meant To Fill Void Left By Hazard

Chelsea FC did a lot of spending this summer for names such as Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech, among others. It turns out Frank Lampard had a reason: to fill the huge void left by Eden Hazard after he left Stamford Bridge last year for Real Madrid CF.

"Teams that are striving to be in and around top six and upwards were spending last year, they were spending again this summer," Lampard said, Goal reported.

"They’ve had the opportunity with the players they bought last year to get them embedded into their teams and we’re dealing with teams above us, which is where we want to get to, where we are aspiring to get to, that have been building their squads for a long time," he added.

Hazard joined Los Blancos after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in 2019. Considered one of the top players in Europe, he departed Stamford Bridge after seven years with the club. During his tenure with the Blues, Hazard helped the club win two Premier League and Europa League titles before making the jump to Santiago Bernabeu. Given those accomplishments, Lampard knew he needed to find a replacement.

Lampard and the Blues had to endure a lot, another reason for the big splurge this summer transfer window. Chelsea was unable to infuse new blood in the previous transfer window, mainly because of the FIFA transfer ban handed down to the club. According to BBC, the reason for that was "150 rule breaches that involved 69 academy players."

Hence, it comes as no surprise that the Blues made up for lost time when they spent heftily this summer. Lampard feels that the big investment is what the club needs for them to get back to the top of the table following Hazard's departure.

"We want to build our squad. We missed two windows and now we come back in and we’ve brought players in with a view to improve us," he told reporters.

Despite the limitations that Chelsea endured last season, the club managed to finish a respectable fourth in the standings for the 2019-20 season. Now, the stakes are higher and Lampard is ready to take on the challenge.

So far, the Blues have gotten seven points from their four EPL matches. They will try to append that when they face Southampton this weekend.

"I welcome expectations. We have to put them to the side, work hard and try to live up to them," Lampard said.