Chelsea boss Frank Lampard says he will prioritise the ‘attitude and personality’ of any new signings that he makes after the club’s transfer ban was lifted.
The former Derby manager was unable to bring in any new faces in his first transfer window in charge due to sanctions imposed by FIFA, but that ban has been overturned after a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
While Lampard is adamant the ability to sign new players will not affect the opportunities presented to young players, he is looking to bring in reinforcements and knows what he wants from new arrivals.
‘If we’re going to try [to make signings] it will be for the improvement of the squad – but if you think we’re going to line up Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and sell them, we’re not,’ Lampard explained.
‘They’re here to stay so the fans will be happy that they can keep that relationship and know that anything we do going forward now will be to try and improve from that base.
‘[We need to consider] the attitude and personality of people we bring in, because we want people who come in to want to work hard and be successful at the club. So that’s where the balance of it becomes really important to me.’
On whether targets have already been scouted, he continued: ‘Now that we know, starting from today there will be conversations had. We have a scouting department – we have people working on this all the time, whether the ban was here or not.
‘It’s not now everyone will just run to their computers and start Googling the best players we can buy! We’re always ready to move forward so it’s part of the big picture. It’s the club’s decision, of course.
‘As I mentioned before, I have a really good relationship with the owner and with Marina [Granovskaia, transfer director]. I respect that relationship on their side and I respect what Roman Abramovich has done for this club because I’m part of it.
‘Without him, I wouldn’t have a lot of the things that I’ve done in the game. I just put forward my case on a working level of what I think will improve us and, hopefully, we’ll make the move from there. But I’m respectful of how the club works.
‘Every big team buys. In the competitive nature of the Premier League and where we’re at, look at what Manchester United have spent in recent years and Manchester City, and now Tottenham last summer – and Arsenal.
‘But at the moment we have managed to utilise a lot of hard work that has gone into the academy over the last 15 or so years and that’s great to see that coming through in one go. That’s changed our picture slightly but we still want to improve if the opportunities are there.’
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