'That is their path' - Frank Lampard sends classy message to Brighton amid comparison with Chelsea

The Blues have endured a chaotic season since the arrival of their new American owner Todd Boehly in June.

Chelsea spent more than £250m in a record-breaking summer transfer window. The Blues’ outlay was the highest spend of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign and the British record for spending in one transfer window.

Boehly then gave Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League-winning manager Thomas Tuchel 100 days before firing him on September 7.

The German was replaced by ex-Albion head coach Graham Potter, who signed a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge, just a day later.

The Blues spent a further £320m in the January window – breaking the spending records they had set in the summer – before parting ways with Potter after just 31 games at the start of April.

Brighton, meanwhile, have spent just over £49m on transfers this season according to transfermarkt.com.

The Seagulls – who are challenging for Europe and have an FA Cup semi-final to look forward to next weekend – are four places and seven points clear of 11th-placed Chelsea, and have two games in hand on the west London outfit.

Lampard, who was named interim Blues boss on April 6, praised how Albion were run but stressed Chelsea’s past successes meant the Blues’ project was on a different ‘path’ to the Seagulls’.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s home Premier League clash with Brighton, Lampard said: "They've had a fantastic model. They've come up, stabilised their Premier League status and moved up over the past six or seven years.

"That is their path; Chelsea's is a different one. This is a club that has been successful over a long period of time.

"We have to understand when you're in a process and a project that you'll have to dig in and not focus on too much opinion."