Lamps unfazed by quiet summer

26 July 2009 11:54
Frank Lampard insists the lack of new arrivals at Chelsea will not be a problem in the upcoming campaign. The Blues have been strongly linked with a host of players this summer, but their biggest buy so far has come in the form of £18million man Yuri Zhirkov. More time of late has been spent fending off reports suggesting key personnel such as Didier Drogba and John Terry could be heading for the exits, but the men from Stamford Bridge were expected to be busier in the market than they have been. While they have been prepared to be prudent, rivals Manchester City have splashed out extraordinary sums on the likes of Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor. Lampard, though, believes big spending does not necessarily guarantee success and the England man is confident Chelsea can challenge for major honours in the 2009/10 campaign. "I don't think it is a necessity now for us to go out and spend a ridiculous amount of money trying to find the perfect signing," the midfielder said in the Sunday Mirror. "Of course, there's a couple of players out there who would add a lot to this team. "But there are millions of players who would not add much to this squad because we are so strong across the board." IndividualsHe added: "Manchester City are buying big, spending a lot of money, bringing in quality players. But whether they can all gel together straight away remains to be seen. While you can spend, spend, spend, the one thing you can't buy is chemistry. "I remember when Roman Abramovich first came to Chelsea. It was a similar situation, but we didn't win the league in the very first season, we came second with Claudio Ranieri. "Then Jose Mourinho came in and we won back-to-back titles - which shows it can be done, but it does take a bit of time. "You need the right manager and a period of time for him to work and for the team to gel. "It's not about individuals coming in and acting like individuals. It's about putting them all together in a team and making it work, making it hum. And it remains to be seen if City are capable of doing that. "You can buy success, but only if you buy the right players, players who are good on the pitch and good off it. That's the important thing. "That's what we have had at Chelsea over the years. We've had great success in some seasons and not so much success in others - you learn from it. "You learn it's about building a team rather than having a load of individuals in there."

Source: SKY_Sports