Chelsea are reportedly looking to cut their squad in January, with up to seven players vulnerable to a winter outing.
The Blues fought back from consecutive losses in the Premier League to beat West Ham 3-0 on Monday night. That capped off a reasonable first period of the season for West Londoners.
They rank fifth in the top flight standings, but are only six points behind Liverpool, which leads the table. If we add to that the comfortable qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, Lampard can be satisfied with the situation.
However, having spent £ 200 million in the summer, there is a feeling that they might have underperformed slightly. With that in mind, they may be looking to get stronger in January and will need to make way for new stars.
A man who is said to be near an exit is the central Antonio Rudiger. With just one league appearance in 2020-2020, he appears to exceed the requirements at Stamford Bridge.
He has been linked to Paris Saint-German but The dismissal of Thomas Tuchel could spoil that move. The German is a fan and 90min claims that Chelsea rejected PSG’s summer loan offers for the German international.
If they follow up on that initial interest with a new man in charge remains to be seen.
Marginal players on the move
It’s not just Rudiger who could head to new pastures in January. Many players have been used lightly due to the size of the Chelsea squad and Lampard knows he must act.
According to Sky Sports, seven players will be eliminated next month, either through permanent deals or on loan. Together with Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso, Ross Barkley, Danny Drinkwater and Victor Moses Can I leave.
The difficulty will be finding new homes for the stars and clubs willing to pay the sale prices.
Although the Chelsea squad needs to fall, there are two main reasons for a mass exodus. West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and the Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland have been linked for a long time.
Lampard is a known admirer of both, but it is unlikely that he will be able to bring them to the Bridge. The pair have been in excellent shape and their price would reflect their current position in the game.
But if some of your players could be sold, there may be funds available to do business with.
Chelsea will be back in action on Boxing Day when they make the short trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal.
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