New additions must improve us, insists Lampard

FRANK Lampard will turn his attention to Chelsea’s recruitment drive now that the Blues’ marathon season is at an end.

The Chelsea boss admitted he will hone in on where to strengthen his team following their 4-1 Champions League humbling at Bayern Munich.

Robert Lewandowski took his season’s tally to 53 goals with a smart brace, with the Poland striker also laying on goals for Ivan Perisic and Corentin Tolisso in Munich.

Bayern won the last-16 twoleg tie 7-1 on aggregate — Lewandowski involved in every goal, scoring three with four assists — and will meet Barcelona in the quarter-finals, while Lampard will continue overhauling the Chelsea squad.

Lampard sealed Champions League qualification through a fourth-place Premier League finish in his first campaign at the Stamford Bridge helm, and insists his Blues rebuild remains a “work in progress”.

Asked if there will be more new arrivals at Stamford Bridge, he said: “We’ll look at that, because that’s our job, we’re very joined up on that already.

“From having a transfer ban (last summer) you feel we’ve missed where other clubs have spent and improved, and recruitment is a huge part of this game.

“Nights like this in a footballing sense, show me a lot, tell me a lot.

“So it’s a conversation now, the season is ended, it’s a very quick turnaround, so now is the time to see where we can improve, what areas we can improve on.”

Chelsea have already pulled off two transfer coups by recruiting Germany striker Timo Werner from RB Leipzig and Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech from Ajax.

The Blues are pushing for Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell and for West Ham’s Declan Rice, while a new goalkeeper could also be on the shopping list.

“In a football sense I feel like I know where we can improve, so now it’s time to look at that,” added Lampard. “We have a lot of players who are young and have been on loan and come back, and I think they have developed greatly through the year.

“People would not normally commend Chelsea coming fourth, it’s not normally been the levels.

“But a lot of people, and the people here working and the fans, the feeling is — and we’re not happy with fourth, we want more — but the feeling is that we’ve achieved something with the group we have.

“But now it’s important not to rest or to settle, but to think where can we improve, where can we improve the players, and as a club where can we improve?”

Transfer talk: Frank Lampard is keen to bolster his squad