Frank Lampard has admitted that getting Chelsea’s recruitment right will be a “challenge” after the club’s transfer ban was lifted.
The Blues will be able to add new faces during January after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) halved the two-window transfer embargo imposed by FIFA in February.
Lampard wasn’t able to make signings during the summer following his arrival at Stamford Bridge but has still helped the club to fourth in the Premier League.
Although youngsters such as Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori have impressed so far, the Chelsea boss admitted he will still look to strengthen his squad next month.
Reinforcements at left-back and up front are thought to be top of Lampard’s wishlist, but he warned that the club must take care to make the right signings to avoid upsetting the balance of the squad.
(Image: Mark Pain/PA Images Contributor)
He said: “Personally what affected me in the summer with the transfer ban, when you come into the club or when you want to go a certain way, sometimes the players you bring in and the attributes they have are key to that.
“I couldn’t make those changes to bring in the players that I felt would help the way I wanted us to play.
“Going forward that is something that I will put to the club. It is a much bigger process than just me making a decision on who I want to buy. It’s not that simple.
“It’s not just myself who gets it right or wrong, but as a club we will have a full discussion and I have a very open conversation with (director) Marina (Granovskaia) and the owner.
(Image: Chris Lee – Chelsea FC)
“Any recommendations that I make to improve the squad as I see will improve us in the shape that we want to go. It will be a challenge and hopefully we will get it right.”
Lampard, who takes his side to face Everton at Goodison Park tomorrow, added: “As much as it is important to bring players in, it is as important for me that we keep the balance of the squad right.
“I don’t see just the 11 players who start, but the squad of 20-plus men that need to help us over the course of the season.
“So if we are going to bring in players or players leave it will be with a view to go in that direction.”
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Chelsea were handed the transfer ban after being found guilty of breaching rules regarding the signing of overseas youth players.
However, despite ruling that the club “did violate rules”, CAS reduced the punishment after finding that the violations were “for a significantly smaller number of players” amounting to “about a third of the violations found by FIFA”.
The verdict added: “In addition, the violations of other RSTP (Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players) rules were found to be less serious than those attributed to Chelsea by FIFA.”
In addition to halving the embargo from two transfer windows to just one, CAS also reduced the fine on the London club from 600,000 to 300,000 Swiss francs (230,000).
Following the announcement, Chelsea released a statement criticising FIFA’s handling of their case, drawing on comparisons with Manchester City .
City were also found guilty of breaking rules around signing young players but did not receive a transfer ban.
The West London club said the governing body “chose to treat Chelsea entirely differently to Manchester City for reasons that make absolutely no sense” and described their approach as “deeply unsatisfactory”.
