Frank Lampard insists that he never doubted Christian Pulisic's ability to thrive in the Premier League.
Lampard has moved to set the record straight after claims from Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch that the Chelsea manager had been unconvinced by Pulisic after taking the Stamford Bridge helm.
Pulisic scored twice for Chelsea in a pre-season friendly against Salzburg in the summer of 2019, after which Marsch claimed Lampard revealed reservations about the USA forward.
Marsch claimed Lampard said of Pulisic "he's got a lot to learn so we'll see how he does" and that the Chelsea boss has had to revise his opinion of the ex-Borussia Dortmund star.
But Lampard rejected that idea and moved to explain the situation as he reassures the 22-year-old Pulisic he always knew the full extent of his talents.
"I did read the comments, I was surprised that Jesse had managed to read my mind as well as he thought he did," said Lampard, who saw Pulisic come on as substitute and score the final goal in Chelsea's 4-0 Champions League win at FK Krasnodar on Wednesday.
"He's recounted the conversation wrongly, so I have to put it right. Because it was a game against Salzburg where we played them and Christian scored two goals in pre-season.
"Afterwards, fair enough, Jesse came up to me and said what a talented player Christian was, which I knew and I agreed with.
"And I spoke about the fact that it was so exciting to see how he could develop for us with the talent that he has.
"That was the conversation. Jesse managed to put it across slightly differently.
"Maybe Jesse knows the feeling of American managers and coaches who travel into Europe, so maybe has things that I don't get.
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Chelsea player ratings v FK Krasnodar
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"But one thing I did get, I played in America for 18 months, and I will never underestimate the desire that American players have, to learn and improve and take on information, and understand the technical side of the game.
"So when you have that, which Christian has, and you have incredible talent, it was never in doubt for me.
"What Christian did was find his feet very quickly and have a breakthrough season in the Premier League where he produced more goals and assists than he had produced previously. So I thought his performance last year was massively impressive on his own.
"He will get better and better because he's a young player. But as a manager I never doubted Christian. And it's important for me to put that straight actually, more for Christian than anything."
The 42-year-old coach also praised winger Hakim Ziyech after the Moroccan international bagged his first goal for the London club and Lampard said he would keep rotating his squad to balance the workload and help his new signings settle.
"Hakim was very good last night, a big plus," he said. "The other players, particularly those in Europe, are finding the schedule heavy.
"We need options. We're also searching for relationships as newer players are learning about each other and how we play. There will be rotation at times. We need everybody."
Defender Thiago Silva, another new boy, will return to the side for Saturday's Premier League visit to Burnley having been rested for the FK Krasnodar win.
"Thiago is fit. Taking him out of Russia was a maintenance issue," Lampard. "He could have played if he had to but we had to put it in context of what is ahead of us."
