Frank Lampard claims Man City’s £330m midfield overhaul shows the challenge facing Coventry as Sky Blues boss says his newly promoted side must ‘find other ways to compete’

Frank Lampard laid bare the size of the task facing Coventry as they prepare to face free-spending Manchester City on Saturday.

In their first Premier League campaign for 25 years, the Sky Blues are still looking for their first points of the season and they will be long outsiders at the Etihad Stadium.

Yet this is not really a fair fight. Coventry spent £125million this summer after winning promotion. City, on the other hand, committed about £330m just to rebuild their midfield with Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi. In total, Premier League clubs spent £3.46billion in the summer window.

‘I didn’t see the spending going this way,’ he admitted. 

‘I remember sitting in the dressing room with John Terry towards the end of our Chelsea careers, wondering whether at that point if the spending would level out.

‘Even back then it had gone through the roof and I didn’t see it going to another level like this. 

‘It’s the reality of the Premier League brand growing so much over the world and it’s allowed the finances to go this way.

‘It shows the challenge ahead for us – Manchester City have spent that on their midfield and it’s nearly three times our budget, so we have to find other ways to compete.’

Coventry did add one more player on Friday, even though the transfer window had closed three days earlier.

Daily Mail Sport revealed that Yann Gboho, a French attacker, had joined for about £10.3m from Toulouse. 

The clubs had agreed the deal before deadline day but it has taken until now for FIFA to ratify the necessary documents and sign off on the deal. 

Gboho’s arrival is subject to visa approval and he will not be involved against City.