Chelsea got their wish today, and their transfer ban has now officially been lifted. What was supposed to be a two window transfer ban has now been reduced to just one, and that means Stamford Bridge is open for business again come January.
Blues boss Frank Lampard made remarks implying that his club could get at least some and perhaps a lot of business done next month. “If there is a chance to strengthen it, then we will look at it,” Lampard told his news conference today, ahead of tomorrow’s match at Everton.
The Englishman wouldn’t discuss specific transfer targets, or even position group priorities though.
“It is important to keep the balance of the squad right,” he added.
“I don’t see it as 11 players but 20 plus men. I need to ensure we go in the right direction.”
It remains to be seen what the Blues top priorities would be in the transfer market though; most likely defense. The Blues are loaded at winger and midfielder, so they won’t be doing any shopping in these areas. Also, they don’t have a true starting quality centre forward after Tammy Abraham, so they might want to shore up depth there.
Of course in January there isn’t always that much quality available, so they won’t take action just for the sake of taking action. It’s got to be a player who is worth it.
Chelsea at Everton FYIs
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: Goodison Park, Wednesday December 7th, 12:30 pm
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 45%, Draw 27%, Everton win 28%
Form Guide: Chelsea WLLWW Everton LLLWD
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Everton 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.