Who Chelsea should target in January now their transfer ban is lifted

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard received huge news on Friday morning that he will be able to sign new players in January. Chelsea’s appeal against a two-window FIFA-imposed transfer ban was successful and reduced to just one, meaning it’s all steam ahead in terms of planning for new arrivals next month.

Lampard’s first five months in charge of Chelsea have been hugely encouraging and everything has so far been achieved without registering a new signing. With a reported £150m budget for Lampard to sink his teeth into, it’s only natural to think Chelsea should kick on and make their current position in the top-four even stronger.

The academy has played a huge role in Chelsea’s start to the season and Lampard is the perfect manager for the club to ensure that suddenly isn’t forgotten now they have money to spend.

So what have we learned about Chelsea’s squad so far this season and where can we expect Lampard to strengthen in January? Signing world class players in a winter transfer window isn’t impossible, as Liverpool showed when they signed Virgil van Dijk in 2017, but the process certainly comes with more obstacles than in the summer.

The clearest issue Lampard has with his squad is at left-back. Marcos Alonso wanted to leave in the summer and Emerson has failed to nail down that role this season. In fact, neither players are in favour at the moment and Lampard has instead resorted to playing Cesar Azpilicueta on that side in recent games.

It’s been well documented Lampard has identified Ben Chilwell as his ideal left-back. The Leicester ace has been immense for the Foxes this season and is now regarded first-choice in his position for England. Chilwell would be superb addition for Chelsea and tick a lot of boxes: English, young, immensely talented and hungry.

The 22-year-old has played a direct hand in four goals in 12 league appearances so far this season, already managing his total across 36 league appearances last season. Furthermore, of those to have made more than five Premier League appearances this season, Chilwell’s WhoScored rating (7.22) ranks second, only behind Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson (7.23) of all left-backs.

However, Leicester will not be interested in selling such a key player midway through the season when they are the closest challengers to Liverpool. It’s unlikely they will catch the runaway leaders but cementing a top-four berth is now the objective for Brendan Rodgers’ side and a realistic one at that if they can keep hold of everyone for the rest of the season.

It leaves Chelsea with a few options. Either they table an offer that is too good to refuse, likely to be well in excess of £50m, wait until the summer or target someone else. The second of those seems most realistic. Unless offers come in for both Alonso and Emerson, expect Chelsea to test the waters for Chilwell but ultimately shelve their pursuit until the summer.

Antonio Rudiger’s return to fitness is timely, as Lampard may well have considered an experienced centre-back next month. He still might but the need to do so is perhaps no longer a priority. Chelsea sold David Luiz in the summer without replacing the Brazilian, though they have not missed him. Gary Cahill also departed after his contract expired. Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christiensen and Fikayo Tomori are all young with room to improve and this is a position Lampard may address in the summer.

Ross Barkley could find himself on the outside looking in at the end of the season, as he is running out of chances with Lampard and Mason Mount has leapfrogged him in the pecking order. Barkley has been limited to just six Premier League appearances this season and has no goals or assists to his name, while Mount has scored five times and provided one assist in 15 league appearances.

Chelsea found themselves light in midfield through October and November and they could intensify their pursuit of Genk starlet Sander Berge in January if injuries force their hand. Berge has caught the eye in the Champions League this season and was singled out for special praise by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after their encounter earlier this season. The 21-year-old has impressively completed 77.8% of his dribbles in Europe’s elite competition, despite the fact Genk were drawn in a group alongside Liverpool, Napoli and Salzburg.

Lampard will also have an eye on bolstering the right hand side of his midfield. Chelsea are blessed with options on the opposite flank, where Mount, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi are vying for places, but the same cannot be said on the right. Willian, who continues to be linked with a move away, is the undisputed first-choice on that side, while Pedro has fallen off the face of the earth this season.

It would be be at all surprising if Chelsea pushed to sign Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha next month. Zaha was left infuriated by Palace at being denied a move away in the summer and has been craving a move to one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs for several years after rediscovering his best form back at his boyhood club. In fact since August 2017, Zaha ranks second for dribbles completed (300) and top for fouls won in the Premier League (225).

Finally, Chelsea may be forced to sign a new striker in January, as you would expect Olivier Giroud to move on next month. The France international has been limited to just five Premier League appearances this season after dropping completely out of favour under Lampard, with Tammy Abraham preferred. Even with Giroud was given a rare chance to start last weekend, the veteran wasted his opportunity as Chelsea slipped to a 1-0 home defeat to West Ham. With the Euro’s to come at the end of the season, Giroud will be desperate for first-team football for the second half of the season to secure a spot in Didier Deschamps’ squad.

The problem for Chelsea will be finding a striker willing to accept reduced playing time. Abraham has proved arguably one of Chelsea’s most important players this season (11 goals scored), ranking behind only Jamie Vardy (14) in the race to finish as this season’s Golden Boot winner.

Players like Callum Wilson have previously been linked with moves to Stamford Bridge but Timo Werner could prove an ideal signing for the Blues. Albeit unlikely in January, Werner has been heavily linked with a move away from RB Leipzig in the last 12 months and is expected to leave in the summer by the very latest. Werner is at present among the top-10 most in-form players in Europe’s top five leagues, according to our unique power rankings, and is capable of playing through the middle and out wide.

Werner will struggle to catch Robert Lewandowski as the Bundesliga’s top scorer this season, with the Bayern Munich striker remarkably already on 16 goals from just 13 appearances, but the 23-year-old does have 13 himself. When factoring in assists, Werner has actually played a direct hand in more goals than any other player in the Bundesliga this season (18).

Lampard’s reaction to Chelsea’s transfer ban being lifted was to be expected. The 41-year-old  insists he is happy with his squad ahead of the January transfer window, as it would be counter-intuitive to say otherwise, but there is no doubt he would jump at the chance to strengthen if the right option presents itself. However, it’s important for Chelsea not to get carried away as some of the foundations for a successful period under Lampard have already been put into place.