Frank Lampard has insisted Chelsea are poised to spend in January after the manager reportedly told the club his top two targets.
Chelsea have given Lampard a £150million budget after seeing their transfer ban overturned for January.
The Guardian claim Lampard’s priority targets include a new attacker and a left-sided defender.
Lampard regards Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell as his top target at left-back, but it is likely the Blues will have to wait until the summer to make their move for the Englishman.
Chelsea will concentrate on signing a forward and a centre-back, with former Blue Nathan Ake a possible addition.
Lampard revealed plans were in place for January and revealed no player would be signed without his say so.
‘We are certainly joined up on recruitment,’ Lampard said, before the New Year’s Day fixture against Brighton.
‘I know we haven’t done anything yet so there is no proof in that but we are joined up.
‘I have very close conversations with Marina [Granovskaia, the director], Petr Cech [the technical and performance adviser] and Scott [McLachlan], who is the head of our recruitment department.
‘They know what I want and I will be fundamentally in the middle of who and what we bring into the club.
‘As it stands we are very open about that. If it feels right from my side, on the footballing point, in January, and from the club side in January, then we will make the moves we make. It is a joined-up effort.’
Chelsea can activate a £40million buy-back clause for Ake and have been linked with attackers Moussa Dembele, Wilfried Zaha and Jadon Sancho.
Olivier Giroud could leave the club after falling down the pecking order, but Lampard wants to add a forward regardless.
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