CHELSEA have been given the green light to splash the cash in January.
The Blues have had their transfer ban overturned on appeal meaning Frank Lampard will have money to spend in the New Year.
Lampard has put his faith in youth this season and it has paid off with the club comfortably occupying fourth spot in the Premier League.
But he’s ready to enter the New Year with a shortlist of transfer targets to further improve the Blues in a bid to close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool.
His Christmas wishlist includes a left-back, a central defender and a big-name attacking player to replace Eden Hazard.
He has one target in mind and that is Borussia Dortmund’s unsettled superstar Jadon Sancho.
The England winger has grown disillusioned at the club after feeling he has been made a scapegoat.
It came after he was sensationally hooked off after just 36 minutes against Bayern Munich with manager Lucian Favre confirming it was a tactical decision.
Sancho has told his agent to find him a new club and Chelsea are braced to smash their own transfer record to offer him an escape route.
Dortmund will look for at least £90m having sold winger Christian Pulisic for £58m to the West Londoners last season.
Chelsea know they are braced to fight fierce competition across Europe including from Manchester United and Liverpool.
SIGN A LEFT BACK AND CHIL
The Blues are also braced to target Leicester’s Ben Chilwell.
Marcos Alonso’s Chelsea career appears to be coming to an end after the manager admitted he is leaving him out of the squad intentionally.
Lampard has relied heavily on Emerson Palmieri at left-back this season, but the 25-year-old is not viewed as a long-term option.
And Monaco’s teen sensation Benoit Badiashile could complete the spending spree.
The central defender, 18, has been heavily scouted by the Blues and is regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in Europe.
Any new signings will mean some players will have to fight to keep their place in the side including Mason Mount.
Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori and Antonio Rudiger are set to battle it out for a centre-back spot.
Jadon Sancho is a January target for Chelsea
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
