Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has explained how his club won the race to sign RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner.

The Stamford Bridge club confirmed the signing of the Germany international in a £47.5 million deal during the week.

Lampard said: “I think he’s clearly a player that we liked.

“I’ve certainly followed him for a long time myself, individually, just as a talented player, even before I had this job. But as a club, clearly we went for him, and he certainly will strengthen us in my opinion.

“He’s got huge talent, had a fantastic season this year but before that as well. Where we probably couldn’t do as much business in the last couple of windows for whatever reasons, it’s given us a chance to see some youth have more time in the team.

“But we were very clear about the fact we wanted to improve and Timo Werner is always a signing that will improve us. I’m certainly very excited to have him playing for Chelsea and we look forward to having him.”

Asked what had changed with Werner seemingly being all set to join Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at one stage, Lampard added: “I don’t know, that’s probably a better question to ask Timo himself.

“We worked as hard as we could. I had good conversations with him personally, where I think he hopefully understands what I want to do here with the club, how we work, how we play.

“It seemed that it came across as a really exciting prospect for him, because he obviously had some very, very good options. We’re happy with that, it was very joined up from our end as to how we went about it, and we’re just pleased that Timo has decided to come to us.

“I did speak to him [after confirmation he was joining Chelsea] and he was excited, which is great and I am certainly excited to have him here. We will have to hold our breath slightly because we have business at hand and so does he, finishing their league.

“He is the type of player we are looking at to come here and have a big impact. We will have to give him a bit of time, the Premier League is a different animal to other leagues in world football.

“But the quality that Timo has, the work ethic and personality, humility, really shone through for me when I was speaking to him. I am very happy to have him.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @RBLeipzig_EN

Olivier Giroud has allayed the fear that Chelsea’s new signing Timo Werner would reduce his chances of featuring for the club.

Chelsea announced the £47.5 million signing of the Germany international during the week thereby making Giroud’s place in the team shaky.

According to the Frenchman, Werner signing for Chelsea is going to provide him with “more motivation” and that he relishes the competition.

The Blues forward, however, is confident in his abilities, saying the arrival of the German is just a chance for him to step up and make life difficult for manager Frank Lampard.

Giroud told The Guardian, via Goal, that: “He [Werner] is going to be a very good signing and will provide more motivation for strikers.

“I’ve been the super sub but I want to make the gaffer’s choices even more difficult.”

The 33-year-old signed a one-year contract extension at Chelsea earlier this season, having worked his way back into the side in the first few months of 2020 after rarely featuring under Lampard in the first half of the season.

Giroud’s club and international team-mate N’Golo Kante was one of the players to voice their concerns about football returning, with BAME people disproportinately affected by Covid-19.

The defensive midfielder is back and now available for selection, however, and Giroud says he understands his team-mate’s concerns.

He said: “I believe, like all the players he had at-risk people in his entourage, so that’s why he didn’t feel very comfortable. I respect that. We are very glad to have him back and I think he will definitely be here for the first game. He is looking good.”

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has urged Spurs fans to be realistic after seeing the Blues splash the cash on Timo Werner.

Chelsea signed RB Leipzig striker on Wednesday after the Blues reportedly paid £47.5m to secure the Germany international.

Mourinho says Tottenham Hotspur cannot compete with Chelsea’s spending.

“We know that we are going to be in the same league, in the same world, as clubs that are going to do completely different to us,” he said.

“You have now examples already of clubs investing and making important movements in the market and we are still nine matches away from the end of the season.

“But I think we are going always to be very balanced which is what Tottenham normally is.

“Would I expect us not to do anything and to stay exactly with the same squad that we have in this moment? My answer is no.”

He added: “I expect us to do some little important things and if we do our little important things and we improve in two, three positions that we need to improve in the squad, I am completely open to the challenge, I am completely supportive to the board, to the owners.

“And let’s go for it. But in this moment I am not even thinking about that because I am focused on these nine matches.

“It’s obvious for us that there are a certain level of options that are not for us. We have to admit that. But that’s a normal situation.

“So United bought Bruno Fernandes, Chelsea’s buying Ziyech and Werner, they can do what they want. It’s not our problem. We focus on ourselves.

“We are going to improve our squad in the way we can do it. No problem.”

Frank Lampard has told Chelsea’s young hopefuls to get used to scrapping for their futures as new players like Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner join the club.

Chelsea announced the signing RB Leipzig striker on Wednesday and are still angling for Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz in their effort to rebuild the team.

Lampard said: “I’ve spoken to Tammy Abraham before about the idea of competition and I don’t feel the need to have to address every player if a player comes in who might challenge their position at a club like Chelsea, because that’s what it’s about.

“It’s been about that in its most successful years, in recent years in the Roman Abramovich era.

“Tammy has had a very good season for us this season. He has to sustain and improve on that because at Chelsea we have demands.

“I’m happy to have options and we have options in forward areas. And we must have competition for places. So I’m pleased with the idea of that.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s desire to revamp his defence has suffered a blow after Gabriel Magalhaes reportedly agreed to join Napoli.

Chelsea were also tipped for a move yet the French outfit have agreed a deal to sell Gabriel, according to FootMercato.

A five-year contract worth £1.8m-a-season is said to have been agreed between the player and his new club, who will pay around £20m for his services.

Dimitar Berbatov has told Chelsea target Kai Havertz that he should ignore any advances from Real Madrid.

Los Blancos are said to be keen to sign the Bayer Leverkusen star in the summer despite a strong interest from Chelsea.

Berbatov said: “For me, at the moment he shouldn’t consider any offer from Real Madrid.

“It is a tough place to go and, if you are not prepared mentally for the high demands that they have there, then you are going to have a difficult time.

“Look at Luka Jovic and Eden Hazard. Thibaut Courtois was criticised at the start, Gareth Bale still gets booed and even Cristiano Ronaldo used to get booed, which was unbelievable.

“It is tempting to imagine yourself in the white shirt at the Bernabeu, but you need to be really prepared for the reality.”