Chelsea will target three key areas in January if they overturn their transfer ban including striker to replace Giroud
CHELSEA will discover this week if their Fifa transfer ban has been lifted.
The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport has signalled to the Blues that a decision on their appeal against the Fifa ruling will be made in the next 48 hours.
Chelsea are hopeful that the ban will be either cut or quashed, allowing them to spend in January.
But with Champions League rules meaning clubs can only register three new players for the knock-out stage, it is likely that Frank Lampard will opt to prioritise the key areas.
Sun Sport looks at Lampard’s likely thinking.
LEFT-BACK
Lampard has now publicly signalled he no longer has too much faith in Marcos Alonso.
Not that it was any great surprise, given that he moved skipper Cesar Azpilicueta across to the left flank for Saturday’s game with West Ham, with Reece James playing on the right.
Chelsea fans have fallen out of love with Spaniard Alonso over much of the past two seasons - and certainly since the end of Antonio Conte’s preferred wing-back system.
Conte brought in Brazilian Emerson Palmieri in January 2018 but he has never been able to nail down a starting place.
There are other defensive issues for Lampard, with Kurt Zouma unconvincing in recent weeks and the absence of the injured Antonio Rudiger increasingly evident.
But it is in the wide defensive slot on the left that the weaknesses are most pronounced.
Lampard could opt to stick with Azpilicueta there - after all, he has operated on the left on a number of occasions.
He is, though, not a natural and certainly not likely to regularly go round the outside on his wrong foot.
Leicester’s England ace Ben Chilwell has long been touted as a potential Chelsea recruit, although it is hard to see the Foxes letting him go while they are hunting down a Champions League slot.
Blues fans are probably sick of hearing about the “imminent” arrival of another Brazilian, Alex Telles but Porto might be more willing to do a deal now.
And a third genuine option is Ajax’ Argentine Nicolas Tagliafico, understood to be ready to prove himself in the Prem if the right offer comes in.
The South American might be the easiest for Chelsea to get and the recent change in Uefa rules means he could play FOR Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions league despite playing AGAINST them in the group stage.
WIDE ATTACKER
Christian Pulisic has begun to show why American fans were so upset when he was not in the team at the start of the season.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, now back from his achilles injury, is a big part of Chelsea’s future.
But it is hard to look at both Pedro and Willian and not conclude they are now more a part of Chelsea’s past than the years to come.
Lampard would not want to lose both of them and Willian in particular has been a mainstay of the side this season.
Former Barcelona star Pedro, though, has become something of a bit-part player under Lampard and it might suit both sides for him to be moved on.
On the other side, Willian might be easier to shift with a number of admirers on the continent. You suspect the Brazilian might fancy his chances in Spain.
There would be no point in punting either of them out if Chelsea cannot get more quality in to replace them.
The prime target would be, surely, Birussia Dortmund’s England wideman Jadon Sancho.
Former Manchester City starlet Sancho, who was born in Camberwell, very much in Chelsea’s long shadow, has fallen out with Dortmund coach Lucien Favre and appears ready to go at the first opportunity.
He would be expensive - maybe as much as £100m - but still a signing that would make him instantly part of that stable of young home-grown and English talent including Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount, James, Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and the (hopefully) soon to return Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Other alternatives might be Barcelona’s seemingly unwanted Ousmane Dembele and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, although Lampard might be concerned at the Ivory Coast international’s goal return over the past 12 months.
STRIKER
The Chelsea hierarchy, and Lampard, took a leap of faith in the summer when they agreed that Abraham should be the new standard bearer.
That gamble has paid off, big-time, with Abraham not only scoring 10 Prem goals and one in Europe but also getting his first England strike as well.
When Abraham hobbled off in Valencia last week, it looked like a blow.
Quite how big it was became evident against West Ham as Olivier Giroud, asked to lead the line, appeared miles off the pace.
To be fair to the Frenchman, outstanding in the Europa League run last term, he has barely played this season as a result of Abraham’s emergence.
But Giroud is making the soundings of a man who is desperate for pastures new and with Michy Batshuayi still not convincing, the prospect of bringing in an attacking option who could help shoulder Abraham’s burden would surely appeal to Lampard.
Issues at French giants Lyon could see former Celtic frontman Moussa Dembele available and he would instantly give Chelsea extra goal threat.
LATEST CHELSEA NEWS
Germany’s Timo Werner might be enjoying RB Leipzig’s Champions League run a little too much to leave now.
But closer to home, Chelsea looked at Callum Wilson’s Bournemouth release clause this time last year. The England man would jump at the chance of playing for an elite club.
Wilson also knows that his prospects of staying in the Three Lions set-up for Euro 2020 would be boosted if he can show an ability to dovetail with Abraham.