Lampard to present wishlist after Chelsea transfer ban overturned
FRANK LAMPARD will hand Roman Abramovich a list of players to secure Chelsea’s top-four status in the Premier League after their transfer ban was overturned yesterday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Champions League qualification would be deemed by the club as a huge success, and the head coach will now speak with the owner and director Marina Granovskaia to discuss his plan to start spending a £150million transfer budget.
Chelsea last night launched a blistering attack on their “deeply unsatisfactory” treatment by Fifa after a landmark legal victory at CAS reduced their transfer ban to one window.
The verdict severely undermines the world governing body, which had been confident its two-window punishment would stand after Chelsea were found guilty last season of breaching article 19 of its regulations on the status and transfer of players. Yesterday, the court found Chelsea
“did violate” the rules on minors, “but for a significantly smaller number of players [about one third of the violations found by Fifa]”.
Chelsea, who have now served their punishment in full, questioned why they had received different treatment than Manchester City, who were also found guilty of breaching Fifa rules on under-18 signings, but escaped with a £370,000 fine.
“The approach taken by Fifa to this case has been deeply unsatisfactory, not least as Fifa chose to treat Chelsea entirely differently to Manchester City for reasons that make absolutely no sense to Chelsea,” the club said. Lampard (above), meanwhile, admitted he would now look to strengthen, despite being happy with his squad. With Olivier Giroud and Pedro Rodriguez both running down their contracts, and
Willian yet to commit to a deal past the end of this season, Chelsea are looking at strikers, wide players, a full-back and a centre-back.
Lyon striker Moussa Dembele and Crystal Palace and Borussia Dortmund wingers Wilfried Zaha and Jadon Sancho are being tracked. Chelsea are also following Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell and Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, whom they can buy back for £40m.
(© The Daily Telegraph)