Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho suggested Frank Lampard was under pressure after Chelsea's big spending in the close season. (More Football News)
Mourinho's Spurs are top of the Premier League as they prepare for Sunday's trip to Stamford Bridge for a London derby.
After signing the likes of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy, Chelsea are third in the table.
Those recruits reportedly cost Chelsea around £222million in a major investment for Lampard's second season at the helm.
Mourinho, who had two spells as Chelsea boss and coached Lampard, said the spending also brought pressure.
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"When you are favourites, you know why you are favourites," he told reporters.
"And you have to accept that and you have to deal with that kind of pressure and responsibility. I was at clubs which were, let's say, champions in the market because of their powerful investments. I had to deal with that pressure.
"So now it's not for me to deal with that pressure. It's for others to deal with that pressure. That's not for us."
Spurs, too, have strengthened since last year, although some of their spending came before Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino 12 months ago.
The likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Steven Bergwijn, Ryan Sessegnon, Sergio Reguilon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty have arrived at Tottenham since mid-2019.
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Lampard said there was no doubt every manager was under some sort of pressure.
"We all have relative pressures as managers, not just myself and Jose. He was here as manager so he understands it very well," he said.
"If you look at the spending over the last couple of seasons, what Tottenham made the summer I came to Chelsea and what they've done in this break compared to us, you'll see that it's been very similar output but the only thing that will get you success is hard work.
"The pressures at Tottenham will be big because Jose has built a fantastic squad and has incredible players so we're both in the same position – we want success, people have expectations on us and we work towards that."
